


Midnight Kiss

by Lillyj



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: AU, HEA, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 43,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28394082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillyj/pseuds/Lillyj
Summary: Charlotte Heywood is at a New Year's Eve party with her sister Alison when she is kissed by a handsome stranger at the stroke of twelve.  Who is he? Will she see him again? Will he be the person she has dreamt of?
Comments: 294
Kudos: 457





	1. Chapter 1

Everybody joined in the countdown – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 “Happy New Year” came the chorus of voices in the room. From out of nowhere, the man beside her kissed her. at first it was just a kiss, but as her insides responded, so did his and he took her face in his hands and kissed her again. Her head was whirring with this feeling, one she had never experienced before, she had been kissed before but never like this. This was a kiss she would remember for the rest of her life. As they pulled apart, she looked at him, she wanted to remember his face and what he looked like. He too took in all of her features. What had started as a drink fuelled New Year’s kiss, became so much more to him. The last time he had kissed someone who had stirred his insides, had been years ago with his first true love and he had never expected to have that reaction again. He needed to see her face, in the hope that he might find her again. Before they both had time to even exchange names. The mystery man was dragged off by another man who wanted to introduce him to someone. 

Charlotte and her sister left the party shortly after the kiss. Alison was a little worse for wear and Charlotte needed to get her home as safely as possible. At least in London she was guaranteed to find a taxi outside she thought as she helped her sister put her coat on.   
“I’m tired Charlie” Alison mumbled as they tried to move along the pavement.  
“I know, but we need to find a taxi to get you home” Charlotte said doing her best to hold her sister up. At times, she hated being the elder sister, it made her the sensible one. 

All of a sudden, Alison became easier to manage, Charlotte noticed then someone the other side of her sister, a familiar looking man that she could not place.   
“Thank you” Charlotte said as he smiled at her.  
“No problem, it looked like you needed a hand” he smiled back at her, he was quite a handsome young man, she thought, had she noticed that when she had seen him before? She did not know as she could not remember where she knew him from. “I have my car; can I give you both a lift?”   
“Oh no thank you, we can find a taxi” Charlotte was usually strict about strangers and putting herself in dangerous situations, but that kiss had knocked her slightly off guard and now that this person was talking to her, she was not being as cautious as she usually was.

“It’s New Year’s Eve, well Day now come to think of it, everyone will be looking for a taxi” he said. Charlotte stopped and looked at him. He didn’t look like a serial killer, not that she would possibly know what that looked like anyway she thought, and his face did seem familiar. She contemplated the offer. “I’m going the same way as you anyway” he added. 

Charlotte looked at him with narrowed eyes. “How do you know which way we are going?” she asked with a slight accusatory tone.  
“It’s James” he said, as if she ought to know, she didn’t, and raised her eyebrows. James laughed “Head of maintenance for your building, the one next door and the one opposite”. Charlotte blushed “I’m so sorry, yes of course it is”  
“You would have recognised me if I had my work shirt on, I bet” he said smiling “now, about that lift?”  
“Have you been drinking?” she asked cautiously, Alison now fully asleep leaning on her and becoming quite heavy.  
“Not a drop, I am on call tomorrow for the buildings” he said and swiftly scooping gup Alison as if she weighed nothing and carrying her to his car.

When Sidney finally escaped his brother, he walked around the party, looking everywhere for the pretty, petite dark-haired girl with the mesmerising eyes and the kissable lips. To his dismay, he could not find her anywhere. He went outside, just in case she was out there, but all he saw was a dark car pulling away from the kerb just up the road from where he was and the other way, three drunk lads swaying and singing loudly. Sighing, Sidney contemplated what to do next, go back to the party or go home. 

As they pulled up outside the block of flats, James stopped the car and got out, he held the door for Charlotte, which was very gentleman like, she observed, then he helped Alison out and carried her all the way to the flat. Charlotte opened Alison’s bedroom door and was horrified at the state of it, there were clothes, shoes and makeup strewn all over the bed and floor. In one swoop, she cleared the bed and James laid Alison down.  
“Would you like a cup of tea before you leave?” Charlotte asked while taking Alison’s gold shoes off her.  
“Thank you,” he smiled, “would it be rude to go and find your kitchen and put the kettle on for you while you sort your sister?” 

Oh my, what a sweet man, she thought smiling, surely too good to be true. “Not at all, I shall be right with you, it’s down to the hall” Charlotte considered undressing her sister to be more comfortable, then had second thoughts, she placed the blanket over her sister and left her as she was, leaving the door ajar in case she heard her sister wake.

When Charlotte reached the kitchen, James was stood staring out of the window.  
“Not much of a view” she said seeing him staring out  
“I like the lights, I often wonder who designed these blocks, they allow the night to look pretty with the lights shining, makes you feel less alone”  
“I grew up on a farm, I’m used to the stars being the only light and the sound of owls hooting rather than car horns blasting”  
James turned to face her.

“Thank you again James” Charlotte said, “I truly don’t know how I will ever be able to thank you enough for this”  
“Maybe by telling me your name? you are just ‘The Heywood’s’ for maintenance purposes” he smiled.  
“Charlotte, and that is my younger sister Alison” she said moving to get the milk from the fridge. “Milk and sugar?” she asked as she reached for the teabags from the cupboard  
“One please, thank you”  
“So, what brought you to London? As you said, it is very different to farm life”  
“Jane and Charles initially” she said finishing making the tea.  
“Are they family members of yours?” he asked with genuine curiosity

Charlotte laughed “No, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens” she said “I studied English literature at University, then managed to get a job at the London Library so packed up and came here at the end of September. Our mother said that London is not a safe place to be living alone as a young woman so sent Alison with me, she is due to start a new nannying job in the new year, she is amazing with children”  
“Oh, that sounds lovely to have your sister. I lost my father in an accident last summer, I was due to start an apprenticeship as an architect, but I just couldn’t do it. I worked doing maintenance and labouring with him since I was twelve, so this was a good fit, I hope that once I save a little money and get my head back on straight, I will get another shot at training or studying”  
“I am so sorry to hear about your father, was that your only family”  
“Yes, my mother died when I was young, it was just me and him for as long as I can remember”

The conversation flowed easily with James and Charlotte hoped that they would become friends. She guessed he was around her age; his hands were rough when he took the mug from her showing that he did do a lot of manual work like he had said. He was a pretty ordinary person, what she would deem working class, he had a car and clean clothes, he was presentable out of his work clothes, but he was not all designer labels and ‘look at me’ in his manner. 

Sidney ambled slowly back to his house; he could not get the picture of that girl out of his mind. Who was she? How could he find her again? He was silently cursing his brother for pulling him away at the most inconvenient of moments, but that was Tom, always living in the moment, but always his moments, regardless of what others were doing. He sometimes wondered when he became the sensible one, instead of it being his big brother, or his big sister for that matter, it seemed it all fell on him these days. Still, he had better get some sleep in before heading out to the country in a few hours for the New Year’s Day hunt. Thankfully he had packed ready for his trip, he suspected he would stay the night in the country, he knew when he got together with his friend at his estate, that they would drink themselves into oblivion and he had no rush for getting back to work.

James finished his tea and thanked Charlotte for her hospitality, while she thanked him again for helping her with Alison.   
“I shall no doubt see you around Charlotte” he said as he left.  
“I have no doubt about that” she smiled, wondering if he lived in one of the buildings he managed, maybe even this one, or if he had far to go. Exhausted, she took herself off to bed. 

Laying in bed, he mind began to wander. James was good company, she wondered if they would become friends now, or maybe more once they got to know each other better. But when she closed her eyes, it was not James’s face that came to her mind, it was the face of the dark hair, dark eyed stranger who had kissed her at midnight. Who was he? Would she ever see him again? She opened her eyes and stared into the darkness. She would not be able to sleep after the events of the night, she thought, then after a time, she picked up her phone and selected a podcast to listen to. Setting the sleep timer, should she be fortunate enough to fall asleep. 

As Sidney lay in bed, he willed himself to go to sleep, but the more he tried, the more awake he felt. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that girl, why had he turned and kissed her at midnight? Because everyone else was doing just that, he had not even looked at who he grabbed, it could have been anyone, yet it wasn’t, it was someone who threatened to melt the ice around his heart and for this brief moment, that is exactly what he wanted. He got up, made himself a drink of warm milk, something his mother and grandmother had done for him when he couldn’t sleep, he had considered a shot of whiskey, but he knew he had to drive to the country so he really shouldn’t. Milk often worked just as well he thought to himself as he climbed the stairs back to bed with his hot drink.


	2. Two

Charlotte woke relatively early considering what time she went to bed; Alison was groaning in her bedroom at the thought of getting up. Charlotte visited the bathroom, then headed to the kitchen.

Sidney groaned at the sound of the alarm clock, he had only fallen asleep two hours ago and now he had to get up and drive. What he really wanted was a cooked breakfast to get himself set for the drive, but he did not have the energy to cook, so a quick scrambled egg on toast would have to do for now.   
“Why does nothing open on New Year’s Day, surely everyone wants breakfast cooked for them” he said aloud to himself as he walked to the shower.

Charlotte entered Alison’s bedroom with a cup of tea and some toast.  
“This should help” she said   
“I don’t think anything could help, it is possible that I might die, even before I get to start my new job on Monday”  
“I don’t think you will die, but I think you should drink in moderation going forward” she laughed. Alison tried to laugh but her head hurt. She took a sip of the tea, it was lovely.

“How did we get home last night? and do I remember you kissing someone at midnight?”  
“James, the maintenance guy from the building carried you to his car and then to the flat”  
“That was who you kissed? I am kind of jealous, I think he’s really cute, I was planning on breaking something to get him to visit soon” Alison said with a smile, then tried a bite of the toast.   
“No, I did not kiss James” Charlotte started  
“Phew” Alison said, “Back to plan A”  
“You are not breaking something just to get him to call, why not find him and thank him for getting you home safely”  
“Oh, good plan Charlie, not just a pretty face see!” she said taking another bite of toast, “And thanks for this, you really do look after me more than I deserve”   
“Oh shut up” Charlotte said getting up from her sisters bed and leaving the room.

Freshly showered and dressed and having eaten his eggs and toast, Sidney was ready to head out to his friend’s estate. 

He sat in the car, willing himself to start the journey, then he had a thought. He picked up his phone to send a text.  
“Are you heading out to the hunt today? I am in need of a favour”  
“I am, I’ll be ready in 15 if you want to car share, save the environment and all that”  
“See you in 15”  
“BRING COFFEE!”

Sidney started the engine and headed toward the drive through chain coffee shop, hoping they would be open, to his relief they were. 

Charlotte looked out of the window, the weather looked fresh and she decided it would be a good day for a walk, there was still a lot she wanted to explore of the area. She put her boots and warm coat on, found her woolly hat, said goodbye to her sister, who felt she could not possibly leave her bed today, and went off to explore. 

It was cold out, but it was dry, the air made her breathe look like she was breathing fire. She popped her earphones in and switched the music on her phone to play as she walked with no direction just to walk. 

Sidney pulled up to the drive through microphone and placed his order for the two coffees then as directed moved up to the window to collect, there was a car already at the window, so he patiently waited his turn. As he rounded the corner back to the road, he stopped to let a pedestrian cross in front of him. She smiled a polite thank you and carried on her way.   
“What a beautiful smile” he said aloud and watched her walk until the car behind him tooted their horn for him to move. 

Charlotte rounded the corner and walked down the street, she could see that the coffee place was open and that there were a few cars queueing for the drive through, as she approached and waited to cross, a big range rover type vehicle stopped and ushered her to cross, she was slightly surprised at the kindness and smiled a thank you as she crossed, the windows were slightly tinted and she couldn’t make out the face of the person, but she was confident it was a man. Most of the men in big cars like that usually thought they owned the road; she had nearly been runover by one on a zebra crossing during her first week in London. She wondered why people drove those big 4x4 cars in the city, surely they were better suited to the country like where she had grown up.

Sidney arrived at Crowe’s bachelor pad as it was commonly called by their group of friends. Many a girl had been enticed back there but very few ever stayed once they saw inside.   
Crowe was just coming out of the front door as Sidney went to get out, so he shut the driver door again and stayed seated. Crowe threw his bag in the back and got in the passenger seat.  
“Ah coffee, you are a good man Sidney Parker” Crowe said.  
“A text in capital letters, I don’t believe I had a choice” Sidney laughed   
“True” he said taking a sip of the coffee and burning his tongue  
“It’s hot you idiot” Sidney said  
“I know I know” Crowe replied, before adding “Three questions for you my friend”  
“I reserve the right to answer” Sidney said, Crowe laughed.  
“Now that’s a guilty man talking, which could be the answer to one of the questions”. Sidney waited for his friend to ask  
“One, did you have a good night at the party?”  
“I did”  
“Two, you disappeared early, did you go home with that young lass you kissed”  
“I didn’t”  
“Liar!” Crowe said smiling “Three, what is the favour?”  
“Do you have access to the guest list or any photos from the party so I can try and find out who the girl was”

“I take it back, you didn’t leave with her, did she do a Cinderella on you?”  
“I have no idea; I was about to speak to her but Tom”  
“Say no more, Sidney, I know Tom is your brother and you love him, but seriously, stop letting him rule your life”  
“But” Sidney started  
“No buts Sidney Parker! I love you like a brother, though I do behave more like Arthur, so you obviously love me back. But I cannot watch you waste another year of your life miserable, waiting to tidy up Tom’s mess, or go running when he calls, seriously, promise me you will think about what I am saying”  
“I will think about it” Sidney said with a sadness in his voice that Crowe could feel it fill the car. 

“Now, this guest list, or photo’s; I can get a hold of the list, but I won’t be checking the photo’s until later this afternoon when I sort through the promotional stuff.” He said then picked up his phone and made a call.

“Peaches, its Crowe, don’t suppose you could email me the guest list, you know for follow up and stuff, promo for the next event etc”  
Sidney could not hear what the voice on the other end of the phone was saying, but the tone didn’t sound friendly.  
“Yes, I know, Thanks Peaches, you’re the best”

“Someone didn’t sound happy” Sidney said   
“Ah yeah, Peaches, she’s always like that, said it’s about time I learnt her real name as she’s fed up with me calling her Peaches”  
“What is her real name?”  
“No idea, these girls come and go, she has told me a few times, Claire or something maybe, anyway, she’ll leave before we know it so it’s easier to call them all the same name”   
Sidney rolled his eyes. Crowe was like a brother to him; he was a lot like his brother Arthur, and he would never change. 

Alison heard a knock at the door, she groaned as she pulled herself out of bed, she had finally taken off last night’s clothes and was now wearing a large T-shirt that she had stolen from her older brother before she moved to London.   
She opened the door saying “You’re supposed to be the sensible one” assuming it was Charlotte who had forgotten her key. They had not really made any friends and it wouldn’t be the postman on a bank holiday.

“I am sorry to disappoint you” James said, and Alison went bright red with embarrassment.   
“I am so sorry, I thought you were Charlie, she went for a walk I assumed she forgot her key”  
“Then I am sorry to disappoint you by not being your sister” James replied.  
“No please, don’t be sorry, come in, please” James stepped in.  
“I just came to check that you were both ok, I hope you are not feeling too unwell today, you were a little tipsy last night” he smiled causing Alison to blush again.  
“I have barely got out of bed if I am honest, can I get you a cup of tea, I definitely need one”  
“I don’t want to trouble you, especially as you are on your own and well, I don’t want it to be inappropriate” he said looking at her noticing she was only wearing a T-shirt. Alison looked down.

“I am so not making a very good impression, am I? I shall grab some trousers now, take a seat in there, Charlie should be home soon” she said pointing to the sofa then hurrying back into her bedroom to find a pair of pyjama bottoms in the pile of clothes on the floor, she quickly ran her brush through her hair and returned to make tea.

“Thank you so much for helping get me home safely last night” Alison said handing him the tea.  
“It is really not a problem, honestly, I had the car and was going this way anyway”  
“I won’t blame you if you never want to speak to me again” she said “I am mortified at my behaviour”  
“Please don’t, I was your age once, well to be fair, I am not much older than you now, but I do know what it is like to let your hair down”

Alison and James were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t hear Charlotte come home.   
“Refill anyone?” she said as he popped her head round the door  
“Charlie” Alison said greeting her sister with a huge smile.   
“That’s a yes then” Charlotte laughed, “James?”  
“I don’t want to outstay my welcome, I just popped over to check that you were both ok”  
“Not at all” Alison said taking his cup and giving it to Charlotte.


	3. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning - Bad language**

Lord Babington was at the front of the house talking to his stable hand about the horses when Sidney pulled up. He waved in acknowledgement to his friends as he finished off with the horses. Sidney and Crowe took their bags from the car and walked over to meet their old friend.

“I am so pleased you two are here” Babington said as he greeted his friends “I’ve had word that Lady Denham is attending with her niece and nephew; they’ll be here soon, and all intend to hunt”  
Crowe looked at his two friends blankly.  
“Lady Denham is a bit of a hard woman, says what she thinks, I don’t know her niece and nephew but hopefully they are more polite than her” Sidney said. “She’s done some business with my brother Tom”   
“She’s bringing her own horses at least. I’ve had your horse prepared just in case Sidney” Babington replied.  
“You still have your horse?” Crowe asked Sidney  
“Of course, he’s happy stabled here and Babbers staff are worth the money, no point in bringing him closer to London, I only get to ride him here”   
“If you take him from here, I have less of an excuse to get you out here to visit!” Babington cut in.

James was enjoying the company of the two sisters and was currently on his third cup of tea when he received a call on his mobile that he needed to attend to a maintenance issue at the building next door. Reluctantly he made his apologies to head off to work.  
"I will be cooking a new year's meal around five, if you are hungry after your work, you are welcome to join us, a thank you for getting Alison home safe" Charlotte said as she saw him to the door  
"Thank you, I shall see how long the job takes, but a home cooked meal is something I don't do a lot of living on my own"  
Alison, hearing the invite decided she should shower and dress on the off chance that he showed up. 

“Why is it we are being dragged from our estate to this estate on New Year’s Day to hunt?” Esther asked her Aunt as the car pulled into Lord Babington’s estate. “Rich old men, trying to put on a show of who has the biggest penis and talking complete bollocks until one of them catches a fox”  
“It’s the thrill of the chase sister” Edward said and who knows, maybe one of those rich obnoxious old men is looking for a young obnoxious wife” he said turning to look out of the window at the estate before his sister responded with her usual onslaught toward him. 

“Now come on you two” Lady Denham cut in, sensing things were getting out of hand. “Firstly, if you continue to act like you did when you were five and seven, I will have no problems in grounding you both when we get back home with only bread and milk, no television and no internet” Esther rolled her eyes, she hated being treated like a child by her aunt.  
“Secondly, if any eligible rich man or woman wants to take either of you off my hands, I am all for the giving” 

As they got out of the car, Lady Denham glanced at the Lord who was greeting the guests, she had done her research on him and had him in her sights as a potential match for her niece, she was yet to find a definitive for her nephew, but she had read about a young lady called Diana who was the daughter of a wealthy businessman who had inherited and was in approaching thirty so was obviously desperate to marry.

Sidney and Crowe put their bags in their usual rooms and changed into their hunting clothes. As Sidney exited his room to go down to the hall to meet the others who were gathering ready for the hunt. He could hear Babington talking with Lady Denham. 

“Of course, I won’t be riding competitively, I just want to get out and stretch my horse’s legs, see the estate, but it really does one well to be seen at these events. I assume you have your best men on the case with my horses”   
“Yes, Lady Denham, I wouldn’t dream of anything less for your horses. Are your niece and nephew joining you?”   
“Well, I wouldn’t have brought their horses if they were not, the lazy things are probably on their phones in the car, very unsociable, their mother was not society, it is a good thing that I was not blessed with children and that I am able to teach them real manners. They are the children of my late husband’s brother”

Babington was expecting two teenagers to step out of the car when Lady Denham screamed for them to come to her, however what he encountered was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, a couple of years younger than him, with long flowing red hair and a tall man about his own age, with blonde floppy hair, who stood as if he thought himself a model.

“This is my niece Esther and my nephew Edward” Lady Denham announced, Esther half smiled as Lord Babington put his hand out to her, but Edward took his hand and shook it firmly.

At that moment Sidney appeared out of the door  
“Lady Denham, Esther, Edward, this is my very best friend Sidney Parker, I believe you know his brother Tom?” Babington said, grateful to his friend for support.   
“Hello” Sidney said addressing the party, then turned to his friend “Are we waiting on many more?”  
“Lord Brockhurt and his wife are on their way, but we shall all make our way down to the horses shall we” he replied, “May I?” he asked Esther directly and put his arm out for her, she scoffed at him “I’m quite capable of walking on my own” she snapped. 

“Lady Denham?” Sidney offered politely, to which Lady Denham accepted his offer and they walked down to where ethe horses were waiting.   
Edward took it upon himself to walk with Lord Babington  
“Please ignore my sister, she’s up her own arse, misery is her default setting and the only thing that gives her pleasure is arguing”  
“Thank you for the information Edward, I will have to assume that this is difficult for you to live with”  
“You would not believe” Edward replied before spotting a young lady who had taken his eye, “Please excuse me, I see a damsel in distress” 

Babington moved to walk in line with Esther.  
“Your brother thinks very highly of you”  
“He’s an arrogant pig, so whatever he says you are a fool to believe”  
“If I believed all he said, I would not have come and spoken to you, would I?”  
“Who knows you’re a Lord, he’s a Sir, you both think you’re entitled, and you can treat the likes of me however you wish with no consequences”   
“Then I endeavour to prove you wrong Miss Denham” Esther stopped and looked at him, trying to assess if he was being serious of just treating her with the usual mockery she was used to, he did not look to be mocking her, but that did nothing to alleviate her suspicions.


	4. Four

Sidney awoke to see light streaming into the room. He was still wearing his socks with his boxers and t-shirt. He never knew what state he would wake up in when he stayed at Babington’s especially with Crowe staying too. When the three were together they drank, a lot.   
Sidney felt around to find his phone. It was under the pillow and he had no idea why he’d put it there. It was almost eleven. He’d planned to be leaving by lunch time. Maybe that was not going to be the case. He unlocked his phone to check his emails and texts. He was surprised to see an email from Crowe from last night.   
“Why has Crowe emailed me when I know he’s here in the next room” he said to himself, clicking open the email. It was a copy of the guest list for the party New Year’s Eve that his new assistant had sent. Sitting up he worked through the names on the list   
“No, no, no, definitely no, no” he began as he went through the names.  
“Esther and Edward Denham? I don’t remember seeing them there”   
“No, no, London library 6 delegates - she didn’t look like a library geek or kiss like one” he dismissed them, narrowing his options down to two ladies who he didn’t know. Two sisters Julia and Philida Beaufort. He decided to google them once he had sorted himself more. 

Freshly showered and dressed Sidney left the bedroom in search of coffee. As he descended the stairs he could hear Babington and Crowe chatting and more importantly he could smell bacon. The perfect hangover cure before a drive back to London. 

Charlotte was up and dressed ready to head out for some food shopping, after a walk through the parking. She hated Sunday’s as they were so busy getting ready for the work week to begin on Monday. She tried her hardest to ensure she got some exercise done, usually a walk in the park, even in the rain. Tomorrow Alison begins her new job as a nanny to four children for the Parker’s, some rich family who ran a holiday resort an hour outside London. This was Alison’s first nannying role, she’d worked in a private nursery since leaving school and did her qualifications while working but she’d had enough of the same routine and parents criticisms of the number of children in a room so she’d started to look at nannying for something more meaningful, she hoped. Alison was starting to panic and promised to do all of the ironing if Charlotte did the food shop.

Charlotte walked through the park gates hoping it wouldn’t be too busy. It wasn’t, she could walk without being nudged or bumped and very few children racing toward her on their bikes and scooters. The air was still crisp and it looked like it might snow, the clouds looked heavy. She’d said that to her sister who laughed at her saying “Charlie, if the clouds were heavy they would fall to earth and crash not make snow” for someone who was fairly intelligent and able to look after small children, she said some things that really tickled Charlotte. 

When she reached the supermarket just over an hour later, it seemed busier than usual. Charlotte wondered if others had suspected snow also. Charlotte pushed the trolley and picked up items, checking her list so she didn’t forget anything. She rounded the corner to the bread aisle, which was looking almost empty and stopped to look what was left. She reached to pick up a loaf of bread when she was suddenly knocked out of the way by a man on his phone. Charlotte felt her blood boil  
“Excuse me” she said loudly. The man ignored her so she stepped in front of him. He glanced up from his phone.   
“Yes?” He asked questioning her and gesturing for her to move. Charlotte glared at him. “Hand on” he said into his phone. The turned to Charlotte “can I help you?”   
“I’m waiting on an apology!” She snapped.   
“From me?” He asked innocently.   
“Yes from you!” She said getting angry “you almost knocked me off my feet while you barged in for the bread”  
“Well you should’ve moved if you could see me. That’s your own fault. I was on the phone and busy I can’t be expected to watch out for stupid little girls” he snapped, rolling his eyes and he turned and walked away. 

Charlotte stood for a minute and watched in disbelief as he walked away returning to his phone call. Charlotte continued the last of her shopping, paid and negotiating the bags to carry them looked around for a taxi, to which she could see none. Still seething from the incident, and now knowing she would have to walk home, she stepped out onto the crossing where she had to jump back as a big Range Rover type car came straight toward her. Breaking suddenly at the last moment and ushering her across. She refused to look at the driver, now almost at bursting point. 

Hungover and not in the mood for people, Sidney called into the supermarket after dropping Crowe off, to grab a loaf of bread and a couple of beers. He was talking to his brother Tom on the phone, who was going on again about Sidney helping him out with something for the resort, when some jumped up girl, who probably fancied him, started shouting at him for no reason. Then just to annoy him, the same girl stepped out on the crossing outside the shop, causing him to break suddenly when all he wanted was to get home. He watched her struggle with her bags and looked around to see there were no taxi’s today. He felt a little sorry for her struggling but he was in no mood to be helpful today, but it allowed his mood to lighten slightly assuming she shouted because she was struggling and it was definitely not his fault. 

A car horn beeped behind him, making him jump and some of his anger return. He hadn’t realised he was still watching the girl walking with her shopping. Her wild curls floating out of the bottom of a pink woolly hat and her coat zipped right up covering half of her face from the cold. It was starting to snow slightly and he wondered how far she had to walk as he drove passed her. She looked tired and fed up and there was something oddly familiar about her but he couldn’t place it. Shaking his head, he drove on rummaging around in the centre console for a mint humbug. 

As Charlotte struggled up to the building she took a deep breathe. She was tired now and her arms were aching from carrying the shopping. She could see Alison talking with James outside on the pavement.   
“Do you need a hand with that?” James asked, stepping toward her to take a couple of bags.   
“I’m ok thanks James” she said wearily but not fighting him as he relieved her of some of the shopping.   
After a sigh, Alison stepped forward to take another bag and they all headed up to the flat.   
“I came outside to see the snow” Alison said as she placed the bag she carried onto the worktop.   
“I would say it’s lovely” Charlotte said, “but there’s been no taxis and I’ve had to carry this all the way home”   
Seeing how tired she looked James offered to make her a cup of tea, in her own flat. Charlotte smiled very grateful while she put the shopping away.   
“I’ll help you James” Alison said, moving to be helpful. “You will have a cup with us won’t you” she said taking a small cake out of the shopping bag “and a slice of cake of course for helping” James smiled at her   
“Thank you Alison” he said, pouring the water into the cups that Alison had placed by the kettle. 

When Sidney arrived home he was glad to be in his own house. He slipped his shoes off and put the kettle on. He contemplated getting his laptop out to do some work but when he flicked the tv on he noticed there was football on, so he decided to chill out and watch that instead. Work could wait until tomorrow. As he watched the football, he dozed, still exhausted from his weekend of drinking and partying. As he did he found himself picturing the girl he kissed at new year’s and the girl walking home in the snow with his shopping. He woke feeling slightly guilty at his behaviour letting her walk in the snow when she was clearly struggling. He remembered when he would have stopped, but that was before Eliza who had totally taken advantage of his good nature. She had been all about what she could get without a second thought for his feelings. Since her, he’d become hard faced and cold hearted. Except for that kiss, that had done something to penetrate the stone in him and he didn’t want to start feeling emotions again. He got up to distract himself so he’d stop thinking about the kiss and the poor girl with her shopping.


	5. Five

Alison and Charlotte woke at the same time, both able to hear each other’s alarms sounding the room next door. Charlotte let her sister take the bathroom first as she was starting her new job and though it was closer to their home than Charlotte’s place of work, she needed to be there earlier. 

When Alison had showers and dressed she came into the kitchen to find Charlotte had made coffee and pancakes.  
“You really did this for me?” Alison said almost crying  
“Of course, we always have pancakes on a special occasion” she smiled, “and please don’t cry”  
“I can’t help it,” she said sniffing “you’re the best big sister anyone could ask for and I’m so nervous, they’re such a rich family and I’m just a farm girl, lost in the big city”  
“You’re one of the best nursery nurses in the whole of our county back home, if you weren’t good enough, the Parker’s wouldn’t entrust you with their precious little ones”  
“The children were adorable when they called me back to meet them. Little James, so cute I could eat him”  
“Now that’s definitely not the way to keep your job” Charlotte laughed. “Now eat up and get to it. I’ll wait for an update or see you when you get home. I have to go and get ready” Charlotte hugged her sister and went to shower. 

Sidney tied his tie and checked himself in the mirror. He wondered if he should have shaved, but it was only a little stubble and he was only meeting with his family for a board meeting for the business. He wondered how many hours this would drag on for and decided he needed sustenance just in case. A bacon sandwich from the cafe that he went to with Arthur when they needed to hide from everyone was the order of the morning. 

Charlotte sat on the bus to travel to work. She put her earphones in and picked a podcast to listen to. It was easier than trying to read a book. The traffic was always stop start going into work, which is why she always caught the earlier bus, just in case. 

Sidney was in the left turn lane, the traffic barely moving. A bus pulled up alongside him and without thinking he glanced over. There she was. Right next to him on the bus. The girl from New Year’s Eve. If he rolled his window down he could touch the window she stared out of, he was so close. He smiled at her but she was in a world of her own. He wondered what she was listening to, noticing she had the earphones in. He wanted to follow the bus but he was in the wrong lane. The bus would go straight. He needed to know what number bus she was on but as the traffic moved they stayed side by side and he couldn’t catch it. He would park up around the corner and run back to find the bus he thought as the traffic moved. He rounded the corner and frantically looked for somewhere to park, but there was nowhere and a stream of cars behind him. He looked in the rear view mirror. She was gone again. 

Alison arrived at the Parker residence and knocked the door. Mary answered looking stressed.  
“Alison, I’m so pleased you’re here” she said thrusting baby James into Alison’s arms before she’d had a chance to put her bag down or take her coat off.  
“Jenny, Alicia” Mary then called up the stairs “have you found your shoes now, we’ll be late”  
“What can I do to help?” Alison asked following Mary through the hallway still wearing her coat. 

Mary stopped and turned to face Alison and took a deep breath.  
“Tom and I have an important business meeting. Jenny has lost her school shoes and Tom should be feeding Henry breakfast. I haven’t had time to feed and bath James yet and we have five minutes until we have to leave”  
“Go and brush your own hair then write down the name of the school” Alison said. “I’ll take James upstairs to check on the girls, then I’ll sort James when you leave. That gives me time before I have to collect the children from school later to find it”  
Mary smiled and walked off to sort her own hair as Alison walked up the stairs carrying James following the noise of the two girls to their room. 

“Hi girls, do you remember me?” Alison asked  
“Yes, Alison” they said as Jenny came and hugged her.  
“Have we found shoes?” She asked sitting on the floor placing James on her lap to scan the floor.  
“Here” Alicia shouted triumphantly holding the shoe in the air.  
“Now, let’s get that shoe on so mummy can take you to school and I will come and pick you up later. I will bake some cookies for a snack before tea whilst you’re gone” Alison offered and before she knew it they were dressed and running down the stairs.  
Alison followed and caught the tail end of the family as they went out of the front door. 

“Right then young man,” she said to James “let’s get you sorted” he giggled happily as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She took her coat off finally and walked through to find the kitchen. This house was a maze.  
As she reached the kitchen she could hear some beautiful singing and was surprised to see another person in the house.  
“Hello,” Alison said hoping not to surprise the lady. “I’m Alison, the new nanny”  
The lady turned to face her smiling “Maria, cleaner” she said and turned back to continue her cleaning. 

Alison searched for something to feed James, before taking him upstairs to bath and dress him. 

Sidney arrived at the office, more frustrated than when he’d left the house.  
“Traffic that bad brother” Diana said greeting Sidney with a warm hug.  
“Something like that” he said hugging his sister back. They were not overly close. Sidney was more recently closer to Arthur out of all of his siblings. Diana mothered Arthur, though at fifteen years older than him, she had brought him up since their mother died. He was the surprise baby, born while Sidney and Tom were away at boarding school. He just arrived without warning and they’d returned home to find him. Diana doting on him as if he were her own. There were rumours that he was in fact Diana’s baby but that due to her age, he’d been passed off as a sibling but when Sidney had asked his mother she had told him not to listen to idle gossip. 

Arthur seemed pleased to see his brother, though Sidney suspected it was more to do with the smell of bacon coming from the box he was holding, than his actual presence.  
“For you Arthur” he said presenting his brother with the box.  
“From our place?” Arthur asked  
“Where else?!” Sidney replied with a smile. Arthur grinned with pleasure as he opened the box and savoured the smell before taking the roll out of the box as if he were handing precious gemstones. Sidney watched as Arthur took a bite and the look of pure pleasure passed over his face. 

“I still don’t know what the fascination is” Sidney said to his brother affectionately. “Food is food. It keeps you alive”  
“Sid, my brother, food is magical” he began “the way the flavours tickle your tastebuds. The way a simple mix of texture and flavour can cause an orgasm in your mouth” Sidney laughed.  
“Tell me Arthur, why do you stick by this company, when you could be doing something you love?”  
“Because Sidney Parker. I love my family!” He said simply.  
“But your talents are wasted here. You should go to culinary school, use your talents in a top restaurant. Open a restaurant on the resort if you want to be with the family. But do something for you” Sidney said aloud, then muttered to himself “before you wake up approaching your thirties feeling like life is passing you by” Sidney sighed thinking of it but was distracted from his thoughts by Tom and Mary entering the room. 

“I’ve had a wonderful idea” Tom said sitting at the head of the table. Mary and Sidney looked at each other and rolled their eyes, almost afraid of what might come out of Tom’s mouth next.  
“Tom my dear brother” Diana said. “That is not the way we begin our meetings. I have an agenda which I emailed to each of you. Your idea comes under development. Part three of the agenda”  
Mary mouthed a thank you at her sister-in-law as Diana took charge of the agenda and starting the meeting. 

Charlotte arrived at work feeling quite at ease. She had not forgotten about her New Year’s Eve kiss but had decided that it was a special treat and that in a city the size of London; she had no chance of finding the handsome stranger again. She had also enjoyed the weekend with James, and though she knew Alison liked him a lot, she also had a soft spot for him. He was easy to talk to, he was kind and helpful and he didn’t just talk about farming or sport. He read also and that was a change from the boys back home. Maybe all London men were like this she wondered. 

At lunch time she decided to go out and get some fresh air whilst it was daylight. The thing she missed the most in winter was losing her evenings to go for a walk in I get some fresh air in her lungs and she was lucky to have St James square right outside the library doors to take a wander. She checked her phone and there was a message from Alison “Myself and baby James are all good. We’ll see if I can find the school later. It was madness here this morning. I don’t know if I’ll last very long”  
Charlotte text back “be yourself, they’ll never want to let you go. Love you” 

Sidney was struggling to stay awake listening to his siblings and Mary talk business. They could not agree on anything, except Tom’s idea for a Valentine’s Ball next month, which of course Sidney would be expected to attend and to bring his friends to, so they could spread the word of the resort. It was currently an upmarket seaside holiday camp. Tom wanted to attract more people but he had no idea how to do that. All the events were one off ideas that rarely went to plan unless someone else stepped in and picked up the pieces. Tom was great at starting things, not as good at finishing them.  
“Let’s break for lunch” Sidney said and thankfully, Arthur and Mary agreed.  
“I need to ring the new nanny, I barely had time to speak to her this morning. It was the last thing I needed today to have an all day meeting”  
Sidney knew that feeling but he also knew better than to voice his opinion. 

Sidney went outside for a breath of fresh air. He would go around the corner and take a lap or two of St James square. Clear his head.


	6. Six

As Charlotte walked around the square, she was sure she could feel the weather getting colder, she pulled her hood up over her woolly hat and hid her face from the cold, she was just a little into her second lap when snow started to fall. She decided to finish her second lap and head back inside for a warm cup of tea at the end of her lunch break. 

As Sidney rounded the corner to face the green space that was St James Square, the snow started to fall, he could see someone else walking in front of him, who was fully wrapped up in a warm coat with their hood up. He wished he had his warmer coat with him rather than his suit jacket and a scarf. He had a warmer coat in the car, but he did not want to go back yet, for fear of bumping into Tom outside who would no doubt accost him and try and encourage him to back up his plans for the Valentine Ball. Not that it was a totally bad idea, but he knew he would be forced into dancing with Tom’s pairings, or his sister’s match making, rather than enjoying himself for his choosing. 

Alison looked out of the window as she prepared to walk to the school to collect the children. The snow was falling heavily so she tucked James into the pram with a warm blanket placing the hood over him to shield the snow but still allowing him to see how pretty it was. She had the school saved to her google maps; but had studied it while baby James had napped and hoped to remember the way. 

James looked out of the window as he was repairing a radiator in Joan’s little flat, at eighty-seven, she was as spritely as ever. She offered James a cup of tea while he worked, which he kindly accepted knowing she would make it for him anyway. He sipped the tea gently knowing that she made her tea with a tot of whiskey as standard. The snow was coming down fast and James found himself thinking of the Heywood sisters and their journeys home. 

Alison found the school with no problems and was relieved that the school had been informed of her position and that she would be collecting the children. They were so excited to see the snow and were keen to jump and play in it.   
“Let us not play here children, we must be careful of the traffic as the cars might slip in the snow. Let us get home and play in the garden in the snow. We will have hot chocolate and the cookies that I baked for you as promised.” She said and the children came to walk next to her for the journey home. 

Sidney watched the small woman in front of him walking in the snow as she crossed to the library. As, she took her hood down and removed her hat just inside the glass door, Sidney gasped. It was her, from the bus this morning, from the party New Year’s Eve. He moved quickly but carefully toward the library door, but once inside he had lost her. He walked to the desk near the door.  
“Can I help you? young man” the lady said to him. Sidney smiled; he had not been called a young man for a long time.   
“A young lady just entered here, wearing a mustard-coloured coat, short, dark hair, I believe she might work here”  
“Sounds like young Charlotte, she’s only been here a few months. Has she done something wrong? I really like her and do not want to have to find someone to replace her, she works hard”  
“Not at all, sorry to bother you” Sidney said smiling and as he turned to leave, his phone rang. At least he had a lead to find her. Seeing Arthur’s name on the screen he sighed, he had to get back to the meeting. 

Charlotte removed her hood and woolly had as the heat his her as she entered the library, she moved her way to the back of the library and into the staffroom. Once in the staffroom she made herself a warm cup of tea, before returning ten minutes later to the library floor. 

By four thirty, they had decided they needed to shut the library early due to the snow getting heavier and the roads becoming dangerous. By the time they had cleared everyone out and shut the place down, Transport for London had decided that the roads were too dangerous to allow buses to continue. Charlotte now faced a forty-minute trudge home through the snow. She text her sister to let her know the situation and to check that she would be able to get home safe. 

Sat in their meeting Sidney’s phone went off with an alert. “Due to the hazardous weather conditions, TFL has stopped all buses. We are requesting all our 4x4 volunteers to assist with transport for our critical staff to and from their local hospitals and care homes.”  
“I have to go” Sidney announced  
“What is it brother?” Tom asked, actually sounding concerned.  
“TFL have shut down the bus network and you know I volunteer with the range rover for emergency transport”  
“Oh, how are we going to get home” Diana said in her usual panic when anything happened that wasn’t a part of her agenda.  
“I shall take you all home, Tom have you got your jeep?”  
“We have Mary’s car; we dropped the children off for school on the way here”   
“Then you should be safe home.”  
“Yes, we might have to let the new nanny stay at the house, I don’t know how far she lives away or how she will get home” Mary said, thinking and making plans.   
“Well ring if you need me, I’ll take Diana and Arthur and then I’ll be on call for the text pick up and drop offs when they come through” Sidney said as Arthur and Diana put their coats on. 

Sidney received his first pick up text whilst he was helping Diana to the house as she held tightly to both of her brothers for fear of falling. He first call was to pick up two nurses who were in the next street at the bus stop, to take them to the local hospital, a mere ten minutes’ drive for him. 

Charlotte was so cold she could barely feel her feet, she contemplated stopping to sit for a moment, but she also feared freezing even more. She contemplated ringing James, but she did not want him having an accident in the snow. As she came by the next bus stop, she stopped and sat on the bench, slightly sheltered for a moment, to gather the strength to keep going again and rest her feet that were hurting from the cold. 

Charlotte had sat there for just a few moments, with her feet up on the seat next to her to get them out of the snow and she hugged her knees to her chest. A moment later, she was aware of a car pulling up at the bus stop.  
“The buses are not running” a voice said to her   
“I know” she said then turned to face the voice.   
“It’s you” she said in surprise. Sidney looked back at her and smiled.   
“Yes, it is, I have been hoping to find you”   
“I would rather it not be like this” she said tears stinging her eyes as her feet started to sting.  
“Can I offer you a lift?” he asked   
“No thank you, I would never get in the car with a stranger, you could be anyone” Charlotte said narrowing her eyes as she looked at him. 

Sidney stopped the engine and got out of the car, he walked to the remaining seat next to her and went to sit down.  
“I wouldn’t sit there” Charlotte said as Sidney noticed something unidentifiable on the seat that he definitely did not want to get on his clothes. Charlotte moved her feet and moved to the wet seat where her feet had been offering him the dry seat.  
“I’m Sidney Parker” he said offering her his hand. Charlotte shook it and Sidney clasped his hands around hers.  
“Your hands are freezing, please put them into your pockets for a moment to warm them if you won’t come in the car.” He released her hands and she placed them in her pocket.   
“I’m Charlotte Heywood” she said.  
“Heywood?” he asked questioningly.  
“Yes, is there something wrong with that?” Charlotte suddenly became guarded. He may be able to kiss, but he is certainly a strange man, she was glad that she had not got into the car with him.  
“My brother and his wife have a new nanny called something Heywood; it is an unusual surname, so I remembered it”

“My sister, Alison” Charlotte said smiling. “Maybe you aren’t a serial killer then” she added.  
“Oh no, not me, I don’t like blood” Sidney said shivering at the thought.  
“Have you far to travel home?” he asked, trying to encourage her to have a lift home.  
“I guess I have about half an hour left to walk, would be less if I could feel my feet, but it’s taken me twenty minutes this far and I needed to stop to warm my feet a little out of the snow” she said.   
“Then please trust me to give you a lift” he said as his phone sounded. 

Sidney checked his phone, then showed it to Charlotte  
“Look, I am on the approved 4x4 snow carrier for the emergency services. I have to go and pick up a doctor and take them to a nursing home, ring your sister, tell her you are with Tom’s brother Sidney and if you don’t arrive home safely, they have my name, details, car registration. Sit in the back seat of the car as you would a taxi, I just feel that I cannot leave you to walk all that way on your own.” Sidney said standing and offering her his hand.  
“Fine, I’ll take a lift, but go pick your doctor up as I actually live closer to the nursing home, then we both do a good deed.”  
Sidney smiled and held her hand as he walked her to the car and let her get in.

Charlotte took her phone out to text her sister, when she noticed a text message from Alison.   
“The parkers have offered me the spare room due to the weather; they need me tomorrow to have the children, bit nervous as don’t really know them but I’ll keep in touch. I have let James know and asked him to check you are ok on your own” Charlotte sighed reading it then replied.  
“Almost home, got a lift form a good Samaritan in a jeep. Ring you when I get in”  
“Everything ok?” Sidney said as he turned the corner to carpark of the doctor surgery for the pick-up.   
“My sister text, the Parkers have offered her their spare room so that she is there for the children tomorrow, she has asked the building manager to check in on me as she’s worried about me being home alone” Charlotte said, then after a quick pause added “Probably not a very good idea to tell anyone I am going to be alone at home, safety and all that”   
“Your secret is safe with me” Sidney said as the doctor got into the back of the car.   
“Hi Doctor Fuchs, I am Sidney, this is Charlotte, I hope you are ok to share, Charlotte is a drop near to the nursing home”  
“Absolutely fine with me” Dr Fuchs said as they pulled off. 

Mary handed Alison a pair of new pyjamas that she had with the tags still on.   
“You look roughly the same size as me, I had bought these new to wear, nut I feel they would be better suited to you under the circumstance” Mary said  
“Thank you, Mary, I did not even consider needing a change of clothes” Alison said, feeling completely unprepared.  
“Neither did I, maybe we should have you keep a change of clothes in the spare room next to the children. I know you agreed to overnight care when we had events, but obviously they would have been known in advance”  
“Yes, I do hope I am not making a bad impression on my first day” Alison said  
“Not at all, when we have put the children to bed, we shall have a good chat while Tom goes to his study”

They dropped Dr Fuchs off, and Charlotte offered to walk the two streets home. Sidney checked his phone.   
“I don’t have my next pick-up details yet, so I shall take you to your door mi’ lady” Sidney said smiling.  
“Charlotte laughed. “Then as a thank you, can I offer you a hot drink or a sandwich to keep you going? It seems you may have a long evening ahead of you”  
“Thank you, Charlotte, a hot drink would be most appreciative, I won’t put you out for a sandwich though,”


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am overwhelmed at the love this story is getting. Thank you all and stay safe

Sidney pulled up outside Charlotte’s building and much to his dismay he received his next pickup before he even had a chance to leave his car.   
“I’m so sorry Charlotte but I have to go. Can we do this another time?” He asked.   
“I don’t plan on freezing myself half to death just for you to find me again” Charlotte said with a smile. Sidney had not noticed her smile before and he liked it. He smiled back and it caught Charlotte’s breath. 

“Well you know where I am now so maybe our paths will cross again” she said as she got out of the car and walked to the main door. 

James was watching out of the window for Charlotte to arrive home since receiving a text from Alison saying that she would be staying at her work until the snow cleared a little and that she could not get a hold of her sister. 

Seeing a large Range Rover pull up and someone who looked like Charlotte in the passenger seat, he left his building and went to check if she was ok. Who knows who that man was driving and what he might do to a pretty young lady on her own. 

James met Charlotte by the door and hugged her, letting the man watching from the car know that she had people who cared about her and who would notice if he tried to kill her or anything equally as horrid. 

Sidney watched from the car as she walked to her door. A man approached her and hugged her. She seemed to know him, so she should be safe but she didn’t look exactly comfortable being hugged by him. Maybe he would check on her later he thought as she disappeared through the door. 

James escorted Charlotte up to her flat, explaining that Alison had contacted him and was worried, which in turn made him worried too. He offered to stay with her for a while to keep her company but Charlotte politely declined. She was cold from the snow and she felt flustered from her encounter with Sidney Parker but more from that smile.   
“I’m sorry James, I’m so cold I just need to have a warm bath and have something to eat” she said, seeing the disappointment in his face, she added “but I do have your number should I need some company” she smiled taking her phone from her bag and realising the battery had died.   
“Ok” he replied “any time, no need to worry about the time, even if it is the middle of the night” he smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek as she moved to unlock her door and actually kissing her on her ear. 

Sidney dropped the next person off and checked his phone. No new pickup. He was thinking about Charlotte, then realised that he had not asked her for her phone number. He sighed loudly and tried to remember what number building she had gone into so that he could do a search online to see if he could find a number for her, but he wasn’t sure of it. He also did not know which flat was hers inside the building if he could remember. 

Charlotte put the bath on to run, while she heated a tin of soup from the cupboard to help warm her. She placed her phone on to charge then retrieved a clean pair of pyjamas and her book to settle in for the night. She looked out of the window and the snow was still coming down heavy. She had not seen snow like this since she was a child. 

The sound of the microwave brought her back to the present and she moved away from the window to get her soup. 

Sidney pulled up opposite the building. There were only lights on in two of the windows. The glow of a lamp in a window on the first floor and a full light from a small window on the top floor. He wanted to get out of the car and knock every door until he found her and he really wanted to kiss her again. His stomach jumped at the memory of that first kiss and then again as he recalled the smile before she got out of the car. Sidney was quite angry at himself, he had everything he had dreamed about right there in front of him and just like that he had let her go. 

Disturbing his thoughts, Sidney heard his phone sound another text alert. He took a deep breath wondering where he would be off to now, but to his surprise, it was his dear friend Crowe.   
“Any luck with the list and finding your mystery woman?” The text said. Sidney was regretting getting so drunk after the hunt and telling his two friends about his new Year’s kiss.   
“I have a name, place of work and partial address” Sidney replied.   
“Pass the details. I’ll check her out on Facebook” Crowe replied, a little too eager for Sidney’s liking. 

“Facebook, why didn’t I think of that?” He said to himself. Sidney had a Facebook account but used it less than once a week, but it was ideal for this sort of thing.   
Sidney opened up the app on his phone and typed in her name. He found her immediately, her beautiful smile on her profile picture. He could not see anything of her account as they were not friends. He did not feel he could send a friend request just yet, so he clicked on send message.   
“Hi Charlotte, it’s Sidney. Just checking you are safe and warm. Here’s my number, I’ll be around if you still want a coffee. I know a great drive through which I hope will be open in the snow. Hopefully you will reply x” 

Sidney paused for a minute, debating on whether to leave the kiss on the end or not. In fairness, they had kissed once already and after that kiss, he never wanted to kiss another woman for the rest of his life. 

Charlotte sunk into the bath and opened her book. She did not get much opportunity to relax in the bath with her book since Alison moved in. Alison was a bit of a whirlwind at times. Messy and not a care in the world. She wasn’t selfish but she viewed the world as exciting and to be lived rather than planned. Which was quite in contrast to her as a nanny or nursery nurse as with the children she cared for, she always made sure that they were safe and happy and had all that they needed. 

James sat in his flat willing for his phone to sound and for the beautiful Charlotte to invite him over without her sister being present. He had nothing against Alison, in fact he enjoyed her company, they had a lot in common but there was a something about Charlotte that intrigued him. 

When Charlotte got out of the bath and returned to the lounge, her phone was now fully charged. She picked it up to check it. Message from Doris checking she got home safe from work, multiple messages from Alison asking if she was ok and had she been murdered or snowed in work and to please reply as she was going to send the police out looking for her. Charlotte knew that James would have let her know she was ok. Then a message request from Facebook. Charlotte clicked on it and was surprised to see Sidney Parker handsome face looking back at her. 

She opened the message and read it. She thought for a moment about replying then clicked on his number and send a text so that he would also have her number.   
“Mr Parker, are you stalking me? Mine is a vanilla latte, no sugar, I’ll be awake until ten or all day tomorrow as the library is staying closed. Charlotte”


	8. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again. This is the biggest following any of my stories has had and the comments are so encouraging. Thank you. I hope you enjoy

Sidney picked up his phone and smiled at the text message. He saved her number and considered sending her a message back. Instead he sent a picture of a man in a tree with binoculars and some laughing emojis then headed around the corner to the drive through coffee place he liked. Thankfully they had stayed open “for stranded drivers and the good Samaritans” the girl on the intercom told him. 

James lay in bed. It was only nine but he was feeling a little wounded from Charlotte’s lack of attention. His phone beeped and he quickly picked it up. It was Alison.   
“Hey, hope you’re safe at home. Thanks for the update on Charlie. What are you up to?”   
“Laying in bed, how about you?” He replied. He could talk easily with Alison and enjoyed her company. He smiled as she text him back.   
“I’m wearing my boss’s pyjamas, I don’t have a book to read or a tv in my room and I don’t know when I’ll be home. Save me”   
James laughed. “If I had a better car I would come and rescue you”   
“Would you even climb the drainpipe and carry me out of the window?” Alison replied smiling to herself.   
Their texts and banter continued late into the night and James quickly forgot about Charlotte as he was talking with Alison. 

Charlotte heard a car pull up outside and she moved to look out of the window. She didn’t expect Sidney to turn up with coffee so she was surprised to see him get out of his car. He had his phone in his hand. All of a sudden her phone rang. She answered it still watching him.   
“Hello” she said nervously   
“Which flat number?”   
“D, first floor” she said and moved from the window to the door to let him in. 

“Nice pyjamas” he said smiling. Charlotte had forgotten she was ready for bed after her bath. She blushed.   
“You can borrow them when I’m done with them” she said as she moved to let him in. He walked down the hallway to the room with the light.   
“This is cosy” he said as he went in and looked around.   
“It’s affordable is what you mean” she said   
“No, I mean it’s cosy. I could see myself sat in the armchair with a book or listening to music and staring out of the window watching the world go by.”   
“Not much to see tonight, just some snow and some crazy people in big cars who think it’s safe to be out” she said. “Though I’ve actually been at on the sofa reading, it’s closer to the lamp” then added as an afterthought “please, take a seat” 

Sidney handed her the coffee. “You won’t be sleeping much tonight after one of those” he smiled.   
“True, at least I have tomorrow off work though”   
“You work in the library?”   
“How do you know that. You really are a stalker Sidney Parker” Charlotte said, now wondering if it was a good idea after all to let him in, or have her number.   
Sidney noticed the look on her face and knew he had sounded like a crazy person.   
“Honestly, I wasn’t stalking you, I work around the corner sometimes and saw you lunch time walking by St James square, then go into the library, it was a guess. If you’re feeling uncomfortable I’ll leave now. I promise I’m not weird” 

“So it was just chance you saw me lunch time and again walking home?” Charlotte said, slightly guarded.   
“And on the bus going to work this morning. After that kiss New Year’s Eve. I knew I needed to find you but had no idea where to start looking; then just like that. Three times in one day and now I bring you coffee”   
Charlotte blushed again and looked down at her coffee before speaking.   
“Just so you know. I don’t normally go round kissing random stranger. In fact, I didn’t this time. You jumped on me”   
“Technically I didn’t jump on you” Sidney said, trying to redeem himself “it’s new year, as the clock strikes, everyone kisses the person next to them” 

Charlotte thought about what he said and shrugged her shoulders. “Well it’s a first for me. It must be a London thing”   
“I came back to look for you once I managed to get away from my brother, but you were nowhere to be seen”   
“My sister was a little worse for wear and I had to carry her home” Charlotte said, secretly pleased he had come back to find her. Well it was a good kiss, her best yet in fact.   
“The sister who works for my brother?”   
“Yes, we live together here, share the cost of London” Charlotte sighed. “Doesn’t leave much for nights out, we only went because the library provided some tickets”   
“I’m glad you went” Sidney said smiling. He really did have a lovely smile, though she suspected he had girls falling at her feet and girls who were far more attractive and glamorous than her. Was he just playing with her? She wondered. 

At that moment he received his next trip  
“And that’s you off again” Charlotte said.   
“Sadly yes, may I use your bathroom before I go?”   
“Of course, first right out of this room” she said. 

When he returned, he looked sad, like he didn’t want to leave. Charlotte felt a little disappointed that he was going too. Without thinking she stepped closer to him and kissed him. It was meant to be a little kiss on the cheek, but once her lips met his, it was the same heat as New Year’s Eve and both of them felt their insides react in a way that they could not explain. Charlotte tore herself from him.   
“You’d better go superman, drive carefully won’t you”   
“I shall, don’t worry.” 

Charlotte smiled at him, using all her might not to kiss him again. “I don’t sleep well when I’m on my own, so if you want to chat, I’m sure I’ll hear my phone. Or a quick text to let me know you’re safe”   
“I’d like that. I’d like to get to know you properly” he smiled and turned to leave before he took her in his arms and kissed her again and again and again. 

Alison eventually fell asleep with her phone in her hands. She needed to be alert for the children tomorrow but she felt guilty when she stopped replying to James. There conversations were so easy and he was very handsome on top of that too. 

James waited for a reply but after quarter of an hour, he decided either she had fallen asleep or she was fed up with him. Probably the latter, somehow women never seemed to be that interested in him as a person, just to use him for his handyman skills or his car.


	9. Nine

It was gone two when Sidney finally arrived home. Tired he stripped off to his boxers and climbed into bed, sent Charlotte a quick text “home safe” then fell asleep. Charlotte stirred as her phone sounded. She leaned over and saw it was Sidney, she smiled and went back to sleep. 

Alison woke to the sound of heavy footsteps passing her room, which seemed to wake the whole house. It turned out Tom Parker had his own definition of quiet that didn’t match anyone else’s. Smiling she got up and got herself ready for the day. Her bedroom and en-suite bathroom was so much nicer than the whole of the flat she lived in with her sister. Feeling relaxed after a good sleep in a comfortable bed, she decided to start her day with a text to James. “Good morning, I hope I can make it home tonight. I hope you have a good day” to which he replied. “Good morning to you too, I hope you make it home. Text me the address if you have to walk. Maybe you’d like company walking home?” Seeing his text set Alison off for a good day with the children. 

Charlotte woke up and went to the window. It was white outside as she’d expected and Charlotte wondered if she might go for a walk. It looked beautiful, but after yesterday, she would put her boots on today to protect her feet. She wrapped her robe around her and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast. As she opened the cupboard she saw she had almost all she needed to bake cakes, she would combine her walk in the snow with a trip to get eggs and spend the afternoon baking. She wondered as she waited for the kettle to boil if she would hear from Sidney again. She liked him, but he seemed too good for the likes of her. She was a literary nerd working in a library and her sister was the new nanny for his brother. They obviously were well to do, where as she watched every penny each month worrying about how she would cope if her sister moved out. 

Sidney woke late. He hadn’t realised how tired he had been by the time he got to bed and after another kiss from the delightful Charlotte, he had slept wonderfully with sweet dreams of seeing her again. He contemplated texting her, or maybe calling in to see her. He looked out of the window, more snow had fallen since he had gone to sleep, he would need to try and get the car out if he was needed for pickups today. He checked his phone hoping for a message from her, but no, one from his brother asking him if he had the paperwork for the loan for him to look through and one from his best friend Babington asking if he needed him to arrange a date for the charity night they were due to attend on Saturday, weather dependent and the last saying he was on the rota for pick up and drop off as last night 6pm until midnight. 

Charlotte showered and dressed and wrapped up warm to head out to the shop. She was almost at the shop when her phone rang. She saw Sidney’s name on the screen and paused a second before answering. Her stomach did a flip.  
“Hi” she said casually  
“Hi, what are you up to?” Sidney asked.  
“Walking to the shop, you?”  
“Oh, I hope you have warmer socks and shoes” he said, then added “I’m just about to clear the drive to get the car off ready for tonight.”  
“Good Samaritan duty?”  
“Yes. Which shop are you going to?”  
“I’m just by the express supermarket by the bridge.”  
“Ok, I’ll be there in 15, wait for me” he said as he hung up the phone before Charlotte had a chance to answer. 

Alison was in the playroom with the children, she had just put baby James down for a nap, Henry was doing some colouring and the girls wanted to play a board game.  
“Alison, would you like to have tomorrow off? We will be home with the weather, I can ask my brother in law to take you home later if you like, but I’m hoping you can have the children Saturday for us to attend a charity event if the weather allows. You can stay the night again as I don’t know how late we’ll be back, notice to bring some clothes this time” Mary said, coming to stand in the doorway and watching the children play.  
“Thank you Mrs Parker”  
“It’s Mary”  
“Yes Mary, Saturday night is not a problem and I do believe I can walk home, it’s only about twenty minutes to walk. Thank you”  
“Very well, we’ll check the weather closed to you leaving before we decide” 

Charlotte came out of the shop with her small bag with three items in as Sidney pulled up outside.  
“Your chariot awaits Miss Heywood” he said getting out to come round and open the car door for her smiling.  
“Why thank you kind sir, how fitting to have a white car and behaving like a knight on a white steed” Charlotte said with a giggle.  
“Did you get all your provisions?” Sidney asked seeing her small bag  
“Eggs, I’m going to bake when I get home” Charlotte said tapping the bag gently.  
“Do you want help?” Sidney asked, hoping for some time with her.  
“You bake?” Charlotte asked surprised  
“Not at all, but I’m happy to learn, or watch if I’m in the way” he answered honestly.  
“Very well, you may stay and help” 

James heard his phone beep. He picked it up to check the message.  
“Walking home about four. Here’s the address if you still want to walk with me”  
James smiled. He was growing to like Alison more, the more he spoke with her and this would be a nice opportunity for some time alone together.  
“I’ll see you around four”


	10. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has made me feel so sad, I'm sorry to you all reading.  
> Once I started with it, it just kept writing itself so it is a bit heavier than the other chapters.

Sidney parked the car and followed Charlotte up to the flat. Her phone had sounded in the car and she was now aware that her sister would be home around half four. Charlotte felt awful because for now, she did not want Alison to know that she had found the man from her New Year’s kiss and she was not ready to share him with her either. Both sisters had been so close growing up, they had shared everything, even a bed until they were both teenagers and had finally convinced their parent’s they needed their own beds. Moving to London had been the first time Charlotte had been herself, for just three short months until Alison had joined her here too. They socialised together and had shared James’s attention together but for this small piece of her life, someone wanted to know just Charlotte.  
They had three hours before she would make him leave. She was not sure what she would say to him or how he would react, but she did was determined he would be gone before Alison arrived home. Sidney offered to carry her bag when they got out of the car. She seemed different since she had checked her phone and he was curious as to why. Normally, he was quite direct and would have asked her, but he did not want to push her away, which was a new feeling for him. Normally everyone was kept at arm’s length. He didn’t know what it was about this girl that was standing so close to his wall, peeking in.  
“Tea?” Charlotte asked putting the bag on the counter and moving to the kettle before removing her coat and boots.  
“Thank you” Sidney said, watching her intensely trying to figure out what had happened.  
“Charlotte are you ok?” he asked gently, wanting to sound caring and not accusatory.  
“Yes fine, do you really want to help bake cakes?” she asked in a tone, he felt was a little off with him. She seemed less happy to be with him, more distant.  
“Well, I would like to try and help, like I said, I have never done this before” he said, trying to reassure her and desperately wanting to kiss her. maybe she had a boyfriend, he thought, that might be the problem. He would gently drop it into the conversation, he decided as he took his coat off.  
Charlotte set a timer on her phone for four o’clock then placed her phone on the side and finished making the tea, then set out the ingredients and equipment for baking.  
“So how much do you know?” Charlotte asked, smiling. She was determined to enjoy these couple of hours they had together.  
“I know those ingredients need to go into the bowl and mixed and it goes in the oven and like magic, a cake appears” he said smiling back. Charlotte blushed; she was not expecting a smile like that!  
“Well, they need to be measured, it’s not just about throwing things in a bowl” Charlotte said, taking the flour and weighing it. She talked him through the ingredients as she went along and as she reached for the eggs; Sidney reached for them too. Their hands touched and a bolt of electric travelled through them both. Charlotte froze and looked at him as he leaned forward to kiss her, holding the hand that he touched. 

“We need to finish these cakes, or you’ll have nothing to take with you when you leave” Charlotte said dragging herself from the kiss.  
“Trying to get rid of me already?” Sidney asked, inquisitively. Charlotte looked at the time.  
“Not right now, but soon, by four” she said, looking away, a mixture of embarrassment and guilt.  
“Is that what time your boyfriend gets home?” he asked, needing to know the answer. The look on Charlotte’s face gave him all the answer he needed.  
“Of course not!” Charlotte said, totally aghast. “And if that is what sort of woman you think I am; you can leave right now!” she snapped.  
Sidney felt flustered, he hadn’t meant to imply anything and really didn’t know what to say to make the situation better. He could imagine Crowe and Babbers sat on the other side of the room now, laughing at him. He always managed to mess things up.

If he left now, she would think that he thought she was ‘that sort of woman’. If he said she misinterpreted him, she would shout at him, women never liked to be told they were in the wrong, he had learnt that from Eliza. If he tried to explain, he may become tongue tied and mess it all up even further. He sighed deeply and she looked up from the mixing bowl to face him. She could see his face; he was unsure of himself. This was something new for him.  
“I suppose I should leave. I don’t think that of you, but I also don’t want to argue with you Charlotte. Maybe you need some time alone, before either of us say something we regret.” Sidney said.  
Charlotte turned her face back to the bowl; she could feel tears coming to her eyes that she did not want him to see. Sidney moved to get his coat, he needed to let her know he was not angry at her, but that he was stuck, he just didn’t know how. He was not good with words when they were attached to emotion, unless that emotion was anger or pain. He placed his hand on her shoulder and left it for a few seconds. She did not shake him off, which was a relief, but she did not look at him either.  
“I’ll call you later if you’ll let me?” he said, she nodded, “If you want to call or text me, I promise to answer” he said as he tried to find a way to rescue the situation. She didn’t speak, she couldn’t speak, her emotion was caught in her throat and she wanted more than anything, to run into his arms and for him to hold her tight and let her cry. She wanted to tell him about the situation with her sister and why she wanted him all to herself for now, but she thought she sounded like a spoilt child and he was so much a man, he would probably laugh at her.  
As he turned to walk to the front door, the tears picked up the pace and by the time the door had shut behind him, she had placed the bowl on the counter, and she sunk to the floor and sobbed. 

Alison was watching the clock, the last hour before she left, she was going through the plans for the week, when she was needed as Mary did not need to be at the office all of the time. The arrangements for Saturday arriving in time to give the children their evening meal so that Mary could get ready for the fundraiser, then to give them breakfast in case, she and Tom were late back. As much as Alison tried to concentrate, she was thinking of James coming to meet her at the end of the street to walk her home in the snow. It had not snowed again since lunch time so she suspected that it would start to clear up soon. Life would go back to normal, whatever normal would be after today. Then there was a knock at the door, Alison went to answer it, Sidney was about to walk straight in, when he noticed Alison. He could not believe how much she looked like Charlotte, he knew they were sisters, but they could almost be twins. Alison was a touch taller and her hair a touch lighter, but only just. Sidney found himself lost for words.  
“Can I help you sir?” Alison asked politely, then she heard Tom’s voice behind her as the man at the door found his voice.  
“Sidney, I am Tom’s brother” he said walking into the house.  
“Alison, nanny” she said nodding curtly and shutting the door behind him. She followed them through to the lounge where the children quickly jumped on Uncle Sidney to the sound of laughter and tickling on all parts. Alison watched and smiled at the scene before her. this man was much better with the children than their own father from the short time she had witnessed them together, she thought. Mary came into the room from the kitchen and greeted Sidney warmly,  
“Have you met Alison, our new nanny, she has been a godsend” Mary said warmly. “She is to have the children Saturday for the charity event so I can finally have a relaxing evening. Have you secured a date for the evening?”  
“Umm, well not quite, I have someone in mind, but I need to ask her, I was hoping to do that today, but it seems I have not had the opportunity, I do hope to ask her tomorrow at the latest, give her time to sort a dress, I know what you women are like” he said, though his face looked sad at the thought.  
“Good, good” Tom said before bringing up business to his brother.  
“You can leave now if you are ready” Mary said to Alison, “Thank you for everything” Alison smiled, gathering her belongings to go and find James. 

James arrived at the corner of the road and looked down the street of grand looking houses.  
“What I wouldn’t give to be rich enough for one of these” he said to himself, he could see Alison walking toward him with a beautiful smile. This was the first time he had noticed it, she had a smile like her sister, though more confident in herself. Both girls were beautiful, though Charlotte did not know she was beautiful, she saw herself as plain and unassuming, she could easily melt into the background, whereas Alison carried herself like she believed she was someone, not that she played to her beauty, because she didn’t, like her sister she didn’t notice that men looked at her, but she walked like she had a purpose, that she mattered.  
“Hi” James said smiling, wondering how a series of conversations through text messages, could totally change the way he looked at her. He knew that their conversations were about each other and not seeing Charlotte who he had known longer but seeing Alison as a separate person now.  
“Hi to you too” Alison said greeting him with a warm hug.  
“Here, take my arm in case you fall” James said, offering his arm to her to link on.  
“Very chivalrous Mr Stringer, if one goes down, we go down together” 

Mary finally got Sidney alone while Tom continued to talk  
“What is wrong Sidney, I do hate to see you looking so sad”  
“Mary, you have always been like a sister to me, I think I have made a huge mistake that I do not know how to fix” he said  
“Then let me see if I can be of any assistance” Mary offered kindly and Sidney told her of his incident with Charlotte.

Charlotte took the cake out of the oven and looked at it. She was sad about the way things had gone with Sidney and wanted to try and apologise. She took a photograph of the finished cake and sent it to him with the words “I’ll save you a slice” and waited to see if there was a reply. After thirty minutes, there was not and as she looked out of the window, she could see James and Alison walking toward the building. Though she was pleased to see her sister so happy, she could not help that stabbing feeling in her chest of being the one to lose out again.


	11. Eleven

Sidney glanced at the clock, it was almost six,  
“Thanks for the tea and sympathy Mary, but I really must leave now. I’m on call again until midnight with the Range Rover for the snow, I actually thought I may have had a text by now” he said rummaging for his phone but unable to find it. “I must have dropped it in the car”   
Turning to the children who were sat at the table eating he added “Uncle Sidney has to go now, keep those tickles safe for Friday” he smiled   
“Yay, Friday is my favourite meal when you sit by me and we use our matching spoons for our slippery peas” Henry said   
“Always a spoon for slippery peas Henry” Sidney said, stifling a laugh. He hugged Mary and went to the door. Tom was feeding baby James so did not get up to see his brother off. 

Charlotte excused herself to her room so that Alison and James could have the television to themselves. She had a book that she wanted to finish and was pleased for the escape. She had left two large slices of cake on the counter for them and brought the rest with her, after all, she had promised Sidney a slice. She put her music on low and sat on the bed with her book and just the lamp light in the darkening evening to keep her company. 

Sidney found his phone stuck down the side of the seat, checking it he had a missed call from Babington, the text for his first pickup and a photo message on Facebook, he was surprised to see it was from Charlotte and sent 2 hours ago. “The cake looks lovely, maybe tomorrow for lunch?” He replied, hoping he had not upset her by ignoring the message, not that it had been intentional. 

Alison had put a film on for her and James to watch and she cuddled up to him on the sofa, though they were less than half way through when they found themselves distracted with each other’s kisses. Alison was glad her sister had gone to her bedroom to read, this could have been awkward, she thought to herself. 

Charlotte felt her phone vibrate and she glanced down at it in the bed beside her. It was a reply from Sidney. He wanted lunch with her tomorrow.   
“I have to work tomorrow, what time were you thinking?” She replied, pleased to have a chance at a conversation. 

Sidney was quite busy as the buses had not yet been reinstated, though it was hoped a skeleton service would be in operation the tomorrow. Sidney saw the message around twenty minutes after it was received. He had a small break so he decided to reply while he had the chance.   
“I’m at the office around the corner until half twelve so whenever you’re able to get out.” He sent; then as an afterthought sent a second message “I could pick you up in the morning if you would like me to, I don’t know what the buses are doing”   
He was nervous of her answer but he really still wanted to see her. 

“Shall we say 1pm, for a walk around St James Square? Thank you for the kind offer but there is no need to go out of your way for me, I can walk if there’s no buses” Charlotte wrote as her reply.   
“I’ll be at your bus stop from 8:15am just in case” came the reply. Charlotte smiled, what had she done to deserve this man? She thought. She took a bold step then and sent a quick message before she changed her mind “if you have a spare few minutes, I’ll call you”

Ten minutes later her phone rang.   
“Hello” Charlotte answered nervously   
“How are you feeling now?” Sidney asked kindly.   
“A little better thank you”   
“The cake looks lovely”  
“I’m sorry about earlier”  
“Me too”  
“No, I want to explain, but you probably won’t understand and I don’t want to do it over the phone”  
“Do you want to come for a drive?”  
“But you’re busy”  
“I’ll be there soon, there’s room for you too”  
“Ok” Charlotte said knowing she would get nowhere by trying to argue, and not sure she wanted to. 

She slipped her coat and shoes on and quietly left the flat, she was on the pavement outside when he pulled up. Charlotte got in the car and Sidney reached for her hand.   
“Can we drive around the corner please?” She asked leaving his hand go.   
Sidney didn’t ask why, just took his hand back and drove off a couple of blocks. When he stopped Charlotte turned to face him. “Be brave!” She said to herself and Sidney wondered what she might say that she needed to tell herself that first. 

“My sister is in the flat” she said, then paused thinking about what she was going to say.   
“I met her at my brother’s house earlier” Sidney said “you could pass for twins”   
Charlotte hung her head for a minute. “That’s why I needed you to leave” she said, not looking at him now. “I just needed something to be mine for once, instead of ours” she swallowed. Then added, her voice thick with emotion “I’ll walk back now, thank you for chat” and she placed the cake in some foil on his dashboard. 

She moved her hand to undo the seatbelt but Sidney’s hand stopped her. She looked up at him, her eyes red and threatening tears.   
“I don’t claim to understand, but I do respect your feelings about us. I hope in time, you’ll share more with me, but I don’t want to upset you” he said and he leaned over to kiss her gently on her cheek, catching a stray tear from her eye.   
“We have to go and pick up two young nurses from the hospital and take them home. We can talk about anything you want to if you’ll come” he asked, wiping her cheek of another tear. She nodded, caught the hand from her cheek and kissed it, with a small smile. 

It wasn’t far to the hospital and Sidney asked Charlotte questions about her baking, what she liked to make and what her best recipe was. It was easy conversation, after all they hadn’t known each other a week yet, they had time for the hard stuff to come out. 

Alison got up to make tea, she took a cup into Charlotte and was surprised to see her gone. When she checked her coat was gone, so she assumed she’d gone out for a walk and didn’t want to interrupt the kissing in the lounge, so she text her sister just to check she was ok. 

The nurses had travelled quite a way to the hospital. It took almost forty-five minutes to drive them home. Some of the roads more difficult than others, but they now had the long drive back to make conversation. 

“Charlotte would you come to a charity dinner dance with me on Saturday?” He asked, hoping she would say yes, but expecting her to say no.   
“Oh” Charlotte replied, thinking aloud “I don’t think I own anything suitable to wear”   
“I’d be happy even if you turned up in your pyjamas” he said smiling. Not wanting her to feel under pressure.   
“I’ll have to see what I can find after work Thursday, the buses should be back to normal by then to stop after work” she said   
“So is that a yes?” Sidney asked hopefully   
“It’s a very nervous yes”   
“I’ll look after you, you don’t have to worry about that” he said pulling up by the coffee shop he liked to go to.   
“Vanilla latte?” He said smiling.   
“I didn’t bring any money, but you have one with your cake” she smiled, a little embarrassed.   
Sidney ordered two coffees and they parked up for a while. 

“Who’s the eldest?” Sidney asked, curiously   
“I am, 13 months. Is Tom older than you?”   
“Yes, 4 years older, Diana is 7 years older and Arthur, he’s the baby 8 years younger than me at just twenty”   
“Are you close?”   
I am quite close with them in different ways. Tom often thinks of me as the older brother ready to sort all his problems out, though he helped me when I was younger and in trouble.   
“Alison and I were brought up almost as twins. Always had to share everything. Me always more independent, her always more confident. I was only here in London 3 months before she joined me and moved into my flat. My mother thought I needed the company, Alison said she missed me.” Her thoughts trailed off but the words didn’t come. Sidney could see there were some scars here that he did not want to address.   
They drank their coffee and Sidney moved onto the safer topic of books.


	12. Twelve

Alison had just left to go to the Parkers, leaving Charlotte alone to dress for the dinner dance. She had chosen the dress nervously on Thursday after work and had almost returned it Friday and again this morning. She had even spent some of her savings having her hair done this afternoon. She sat in the bedroom doing her makeup then checked her hair again. It was almost time to get dressed for Sidney to pick her up. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. “One for courage” she said aloud taking a sip before returning to her room to put her dress and shoes on. 

Alison arrived at the Parkers and begrudgingly said goodbye to James. She had seen him every day since the snow and she found herself yearning for his kisses when he wasn’t round. She had to focus on these four darlings tonight though, this was her job she reminded herself and that was more important than a man. 

The children were thrilled to see her and talked excitedly about their day and that mummy had bought popcorn for them so they could all watch a film when mummy and daddy went out. Mary went to finish getting herself ready now that the children were entertained.  
“There is a shepherd's pie in the oven due in about ten minutes. I’ve done enough for you and the children” Mary said as she ascended the stairs. 

Sidney fastened his tie and checked himself in the mirror. He hated having to get all dressed up in a tuxedo, but he knew his duty. Satisfied he picked up his keys to drive to pick up Charlotte. 

Charlotte fastened her dress, put her shoes on and double checked the contents of her bag. She contemplated her coat but she knew it was not suitable to wear to this type of event so settled on a shawl she sometimes wore. Though she felt very overdressed for her usual attire, she also felt that she would be very underdressed and out of place for the event when she arrived. 

Sidney rang the buzzer for the flat, he was exactly on time. A quality Charlotte admired. She took one last look in the mirror and taking a deep breath, she locked up and went down to meet him. 

Sidney smiled, his heart doing a little somersault as she walked toward him.  
“Charlotte, you look wonderful” he said, noticing Charlotte blush.  
“I hope it’s good enough, I wasn’t sure what would be suitable”  
“Don’t put yourself down Charlotte, you will be the belle of the ball, of that I have no doubt” he kissed her cheek and opened the car door for her. 

When they arrived, Charlotte sat for a moment watching people arrive. She did not want to get out of the car, she felt totally out of her depth. Sidney held his hand for her, she had not even noticed that he had exited the car and come around to her door for her.  
“Come on my little princess, let us go in” Sidney said smiling, hoping it would help her confidence to see him relaxed.  
“I don’t think I can” she replied, feeling very nervous.  
“A compromise, let us go in to the reception, have one drink and mingle, be seen. If you still feel this unsure, we’ll skip dinner and leave”  
“You would do that for me?” Charlotte asked, surprised that he was being that considerate to someone he barely knew.  
“I would” he said as she stepped out of the car and took his arm to walk to the door. 

Pausing for a second Sidney turned to give Charlotte a quick kiss.  
“For courage” he said and they went in.  
Sidney went to the bar and got them a drink. They moved around the room, Sidney chatting easily with people he knew. No one said anything bad to Charlotte and no one looked at her like she didn’t belong. The only time Sidney let go of her hand was when he stopped to hug two men affectionately who he introduced to her as Babbers and Crowe, his best friends since school. They greeted her warmly with a kiss the her cheek and teased Sidney for bringing a date which he rarely if ever did on his own.  
“If you have enough of this grumpy man, I’d happily take a pretty woman from him and show you a good evening” Crowe said with a cheeky wink.  
“I shall bear that in mind” Charlotte said with a smile. This was the first time she’d felt almost at ease since arriving.  
“So you’re the mystery woman from New Year’s Eve that got my boy all in a twist” Babbers said.  
“We did meet New Year’s Eve, but I doubt very much I got anyone in a twist” Charlotte replied shyly.  
“She’s a keeper” Crowe whispered as Babbers talked to Charlotte “don’t mess it up”  
Sidney didn’t know whether to smile or run. He knew he did not have a good record with women since Eliza and he had no intention of purposely messing this up, but he was now on edge again about doing or saying the wrong thing. 

A moment later they were joined by Sidney’s siblings. Sidney introduced Charlotte without a surname due to her sister working for Tom and Mary, however Mary immediately saw the resemblance, whilst Tom just said that she looked familiar.  
“Are you and Alison twins?” Mary asked while Sidney chatted with his siblings.  
“We are not” Charlotte said.  
“I wonder if you have very different personalities”  
“We do, I fear I am less comfortable in social circles, I prefer to read”  
“I have forgotten that luxury of escaping into a book. The joys of children”  
“My sister says they are adorable and an absolute credit to you”  
Mary beamed with pride on hearing this, then they were called through to dinner. 

“That dress looks amazing on you, in case you didn’t know. The blue of it compliments your hair and skin” Sidney whispered as he escorted her to dinner, “everyone is very jealous of me tonight having such a spectacular woman on my arm”  
“Thank you,” she replied “you are truly a charmer, I bet you say that to all the women”  
“Well, maybe I mentioned it to my sister too, but we’re family so I have to be nice to her. Crowe is definitely jealous”  
“Well he did offer to be my back up plan, so at least I have options” she said smiling. Sidney liked this little humorous side, she was beginning to relax. 

Charlotte was seated between Sidney and his brother Arthur, who she remembered was twenty, just a year younger than Alison. He was an animated character and Charlotte took to him easily, which made dinner more enjoyable with all of the conversation going around the table.  
After dinner, it was Arthur who invited Charlotte to the dance floor first and was a formidable partner until Sidney came to her rescue as she was beginning to tire. The pace of the music altered, and Sidney took great pleasure in holding Charlotte close as they danced.  
“Are you having a good time?” He asked as his hand rested on the base of her spine.  
“I am,” she smiled back, “though I fear I may pass out if I have to go another round of dancing with Arthur”  
“His energy is endless”  
“But he has a heart of gold and he adores his big brother. Though your sister appears less approving of me”  
“My sister is less approving of anyone who threatens her relationship with Arthur, he is her world.”  
“Yes, if you had not have already told me they were your siblings I would have placed her as his mother”  
“There were rumours when we were growing up, but she was only 15 when he was born. Tom and I were away at school so we have no real way of knowing the truth either way”  
“It wouldn’t change anything, you would still be close and he would still have his infectious personality” Charlotte said  
“Shall we get out of here once the music picks back up? I’m not ready to let you out of my arms while it’s like this” Sidney offered before stealing a kiss from her. His kisses as always made her weak at the knees and she could agree to anything.  
“Ok, my feet could do with a break from these shoes, they’re not used to high heels” she laughed. Sidney kissed her again as the music picked up pace again then took her by the hand to the table to retrieve her bag and shawl before disappearing back to the car without so much as a goodbye to his family and friends.


	13. Thirteen

“Where did you disappear to last night?” Babbers said as Sidney answered the door.  
“I have no idea what you are referring to” Sidney said with a grin. “Is that why you pair are gracing my doorstep at this ungodly hour on a Sunday?”  
“Ungodly hour indeed, it is almost ten and we have brought coffee and provisions for you to cook breakfast!” Crowe said holding a bag out to him. Sidney laughed taking the bag from them and heading to the kitchen.  
“Is she here? In your bed maybe?” Crowe asked with a sly smile.  
“Indeed, she is not! she is a lady, and I am the perfect gentleman. I left her at her door and before midnight” Sidney said, looking shocked that they would think Charlotte had stayed over. Babington laughed. He knew how his friend was, he rarely had a woman in his life and if it was a one-night stand, he generally picked one up from a nightclub and not take them to a dinner dance.  
“Are you bringing her to Lady Denham’s luncheon?” Babbers asked casually.  
“Are you serious?” Sidney asked staring at his friend.  
“Well, I won’t be going that is for sure!” Crowe cut in, “I will however take Charlotte out for a couple of hours for you, fill her in on your secrets, charm her to date me instead and you will know she is in safe hands and not bored to tears by that infuriating woman”  
“I will not be taking Charlotte as I have no intentions on attending myself”  
Babington laughed  
“What’s so funny?” Sidney asked.  
“You seriously think you will not be attending Lady Denham’s luncheon?”  
“Of course. Why would I? I barely know the woman, meeting her at your New Year’s Day hunt was enough for me”  
“Let’s just say, she has become the new favourite subject of your brother as a potential investor to his project, he has been charming her and secured an invite for all of the Parkers as the board of directors and we both know you can tell Tom ‘no’, but he always hears ‘yes’. Plus, the lovely Esther will be there and if Charlotte could befriend her, then we could suggest a double date and she would then notice that I exist”  
“My dear friend, even for you, I cannot bring myself to subject either myself or Charlotte to such an event” he sighed. “I am not opposed to helping you though with Esther, so long as it is not that blessed luncheon”  
Charlotte sat in her kitchen eating half a grapefruit and drinking tea, wishing she was having a cooked breakfast, but her feet were still hurting from all of the dancing in the high heeled shoes and she did not feel like walking to the shops today. Just as she was taking the last bite of her grapefruit, her phone chimed, a message from Alison. Charlotte picked up her phone to see the message and almost cried when she saw a photograph of Alison sitting down to a cooked breakfast. She picked up her mug and took herself back to bed to read her book and sulk. Today would be a lazy day before back to work tomorrow.

Charlotte decided to run herself a nice bubble bath, Alison had sent her a message that she would be going to James’s from the Parkers and not to expect her home any time soon. She went to the kitchen to decide what to have for lunch, she knew had managed to pick up some shopping after work on Friday and the snow was all but gone now, so that had made things easier. 

Babbers and Crowe were in the mood for a ‘lads’ day’ before Babbers went back out to his estate, he did not like to be at his London flat any longer than he needed to be, but he knew he was expected last night at the dinner and he had a couple of meetings tomorrow to attend but he longed for Tuesday and back to the country. Crowe on the other hand was loathed to be out of London. He hated missing out on the social scene that came with the big city and being the owner of multiple night clubs, he had access to most of the nightlife.  
“Let’s go to the pub, game of pool, a few pints, a Sunday like the good old days” Babbers said with enthusiasm. Crowe was behind him one hundred percent and needed no persuasion. Sidney, however, was thinking about Charlotte, he had not even had the chance to text her yet to see how she was, he did not plan on going out and totally ignoring her for the day, though he had always loved his outing with his best friends. Two weeks ago, he would not have hesitated. Sensing Sidney’s apprehension, Babbers placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders and looked straight at him.  
“Look, it has been barely a week since you met, she will need her space for her mates as much as you need time for yours. Give each other space and time to miss each other. Send her a message, give her a quick call, whatever it takes to check she is ok, then let it go for the day and enjoy yourself with us. Trust me on this Sidney Parker!” 

Sidney considered the words of his friend, he had a point, he did not want Charlotte to feel he was too overbearing, but he felt drawn to her and wanted to see her and be with her, she made him feel again and he could be the person he was supposed to be. There was something comfortable about their relationship. 

Charlotte sank into the warm bubbles and let out a deep breath. There was nothing more satisfying than a warm bubble bath, she picked her book up from the side and opened it at the bookmark, taking herself away from the real world and into her fictional world.

Sidney dropped Charlotte a quick text as he brushed his teeth to get ready to go out with the boys. He knew if he rang her, he would melt into her voice and would find his way to her instead. She needed time with her friends as much as he needed time with his. He dried and dressed and waited for her reply, which did not come. Sidney felt sad as he left with his friends to go the local pub. 

Charlotte got out of the bath, dressed in fresh pyjamas and fluffy socks, she picked up her phone from the bedside table where she had left it, but the battery was still dead. Strange she thought, as she had put it to charge before her bath. When she checked, she had forgotten to flick the switch on the wall. She laughed at herself as she flicked it to on and headed to the kitchen for a cup of tea and some cake, before going to sit on the sofa and browse the television channels. 

Sidney checked his phone every ten minutes, getting more worried as the time went on that she had not replied. His friends tried to tell him that he was overreacting, but he couldn’t help but worry. Crowe bought another round of drinks, hoping that the alcohol would relax his friend.  
“You’re up Parker” Babington said as he held the pool cue out toward his friend. Sidney went to make an excuse but Babbers pushed the cue closer to him, so he took it and stepped up to the table. Disappointed that he had not heard from her, he tried his hardest to concentrate on the game at hand.

It was almost dark outside, when Charlotte decided she would get dressed and take a walk around the block for some fresh air. As much as she liked a lazy day, she also needed to get out of the small flat. She picked up her phone, which was now fully charged and was about to text Ali that she was popping out when she noticed a message from Sidney from quite a few hours ago. She decided she ought to reply now. “Sorry for the late reply, phone issues. Just popping out for a walk and some fresh air, hope you’re having a good time with your friends”

Sidney felt his phone in his pocket and was relieved to see Charlotte had replied. He read it, smiled, sent her a simple reply saying, “Miss you xx” and turned back to his friends.


	14. Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it has been a while since the last update, but I just have not had any space in my head to write. This is a little on and the next is on its way :)

Charlotte had had a busy morning at work, it was always the same this time of January, the students were back at the university and sixth form students from the local schools and colleges were all in reading for exams, catching up on coursework that they didn’t finish over the Christmas holidays. Most of the tables were occupied day and evening and the student population were always the least likely to return any books they used, back to their correct place, instead leaving them all over the tables, which if they weren’t’ cleared quick enough were added to by the next batch of people in. Most of them sat with their headphones on listening to music as you could always hear the faint tinny noise of something as you walked past them. Charlotte was grateful for it to be her turn to go for lunch and she desperately needed some fresh air, she picked up her sandwiches and decided to eat them whilst she walked to the coffee shop around the corner. Today she felt she deserved a vanilla latte over the instant coffee in the staff room. 

Even though the snow was all gone now, it was still very cold out and Charlotte wrapped up warm in her thick coat and her scarf, she could not find her woolly hat this morning so had to leave without it. She walked leisurely as she ate her sandwiches, enjoying the cold but fresh air and allowing herself to look around and be in the moment, she liked to watch other people as she wandered, feeling invisible to the world. She wondered what they were like, what conversations people were having, where they were going, why they were rushing. She would never know if she was correct in her assumptions, but it made her smile and allowed her imagination a time to play. Her mother had told her she should write a book with how wild her imagination went but she always dismissed it, she loved to read, and she loved to work in the library, but she knew she would never have enough talent to write a book herself. 

She rounded the corner, onto the busier road with the shops, she stopped to glance in the jeweller’s window, she loved to see the sparking rings, necklaces and earrings and often considered if she would treat herself one day to something expensive and pretty, but she rarely went anywhere to wear anything that fancy, so she continued on. As she was coming up near the coffee shop, she saw a man exit, she immediately recognised it was Sidney. She was about to call to him, but he was immediately followed by a tall, beautiful blonde lady, with expensive looking shoes and a designer coat. The woman flicked her hair across her shoulder dramatically, emphasising how beautiful she was, they paused a moment, and the women linked her arm in Sidney’s as they crossed the road together. They looked every bit the perfect couple. Charlotte felt like she had been stabbed in her chest. Catching her breath, and feeling a sting in her eyes, she swallowed hard to push the tears away and went to get her coffee. She now more than before, deserved this coffee treat. 

Sidney unhooked Eliza’s arm from his as they reached the other side of the road.   
“I don’t know why you wear those stupid shoes if you cannot walk in them” he said in frustration.  
“I can walk perfectly well in them, Sidney, my love, I just enjoy the closeness of holding onto your arm”  
“I am not your love, as I constantly remind you and there is no reason at all to be hanging on me”  
“Now, now, Sidney. There is no need to be like that, we were good together and we can be again. You know that little hiccough with Charles meant nothing, he may have had more money than you, but he just didn’t look right on my arm, whereas you, well, you know you look the part”  
“You make us sound like handbags, this one is designer and goes with todays outfit, this is a carrier bag from the supermarket”  
Eliza laughed, “See Sidney, you do see the importance of having the right person on your arm, but you know it is not just that”  
“Look Eliza, you know I only agreed to meet with you to please Tom, I know he wants you to invest in the business, which quite frankly, has no interest to me, whether you do or not, but I have no intention of being on your arm, not now, not ever”  
“Sidney Parker, there is a hint of conviction in your words there. Would it have anything to do with a certain dark haired young lady, who accompanied you on the weekend to the Ball”  
“I don’t believe that is any of your business, however, thank you for joining me for coffee to discuss the investment, you have the relevant paperwork and the solicitor’s details, and any other questions can be directed to Tom now.” 

Sidney stopped next to Eliza’s car and put his hand out to shake hers. Eliza laughed and put her arms out to hug Sidney. He stood stiff as a board and did not respond to her; she kissed his cheek, and he took a step back. 

“I shall see you for dinner on Friday evening, Tom and Mary have invited me with Arthur and Diana and assured me that you will be there to make a cosy six” she smiled, and Sidney grunted, before turning from her and walking back down the street the way he had come. 

He glanced across the road as he walked, angry at Tom and playing the conversation over in his head of him telling Tom that he would not be attending Friday and Tom ignoring him and expecting him to be there. As he looked over, he saw someone who looked like Charlotte walking out of the coffee shop that he had not a few moments ago been in. He had not been looking around when he was in the coffee shop or as they left and wondered if Charlotte had seen him and Eliza together. He tried to cross the road to catch up to her, but it was as if every vehicle in London was on this street right now and by the time he managed to cross, she was a way down the street, he considered calling out to her, but she probably wouldn’t hear him. He took his phone out to call her as she had rounded the corner to go back to the library, but she did not answer, maybe she had just popped out and not brought her phone, he hoped, and he decided he would walk to the library to speak to her. 

Charlotte felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, she pulled it out to look at the screen but saw Sidney’s name there and decided to let it go to voicemail. She carried on walking back to work, her coffee still a little hot to drink and her upset making her pace fast. She stopped just outside the entrance, took a couple of deep breaths and went in. Work would help take her mind off things, she decided as she walked to the staffroom to finish her latte and the last ten minutes of her lunch break. 

Sidney was almost at the library when his phone rang, he took it out of his picket hoping it was Charlotte returning his call, but it was Diana. He ignored it, but she rang straight back, so he figured it had to be urgent.   
“Hello Diana, what is wrong?”  
“Arthur has had an accident; you need to come quickly” she said crying in panic.  
“Where are you?” he asked turning back to go to his car.  
“At the house” she replied before hanging up. Sidney walked as fast as he could back to the car, hoping his sister was just exaggerating as she was known to and that his little brother was in ok.


	15. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s been a while

Sidney pulled up at Diana’s as the ambulance was pulling away. He went to the house in case Diana had not gone in the ambulance with them. Diana was sat on the bottom step of the stairs with the front door still open.   
“You’re too late” she said, her head in her hands.   
“Too late? Please don’t say he’s gone?” Sidney felt his chest constrict and he was struggling to breath. He had arrived too late when his father died too and not got the chance to say goodbye.   
“You probably saw the ambulance as you pulled up”  
“I did. What happened Di, please tell me”  
“He collapsed, mid conversation, I was so frightened and you’ve always been the sensible brother, so I called you straight after the ambulance” 

Whilst Sidney appreciated the sentiment about being a good brother, he needed to know about Arthur. He needed to know where they had taken him and he needed to see him, whatever.   
“Where have they taken him?” He asked, barely able to get his words out.   
“St Thomas’s, as he’s an adult, I couldn’t go with him. He doesn’t know I’m his mum”  
“So the rumours are true?”   
“Yes. Please don’t tell anyone else”  
“I won’t, but Arthur? Is he?”  
“They don’t know what’s wrong. They did an ECG and it wasn’t quite right so they’ve taken him for tests. They said come in an hour or so and they’ll be able to tell us more and we can see him. Save waiting round the waiting room. They will have had time to do the tests and settle him. We have to bring some toiletries and stuff with us.” 

Sidney felt his heart beating again and suddenly he could breathe again.   
“Ok, let’s get some of his belongings and some provisions for us and we’ll make our way over. Shall I ring Tom?”  
“No, ring Mary, she’ll be easier to deal with. They don’t need to come, they have the children”  
“They have a new nanny, so they might” 

Charlotte took her phone from her bag as she sat on the bus stop waiting. Three missed calls from Sidney, she deleted them uninterested, still upset about being so stupid to think that someone like him could be interested in someone like her and a text from Alison. “The Parker’s have a family emergency. Have to stay the night at work. Stay safe. Love you Sis xx”

Charlotte’s bus arrived, she got on, found a seat and put her headphones in to listen to some music, in an attempt to cheer her up. She wondered if that blonde was part of his family, but she didn’t look like them, she’d met Mary and Diana already. She wondered what the emergency was and if she should ring him or text, but she decided not to, she would answer his next call though, she decided. Just in case. 

Sidney and Diana waited at the hospital for news. Tom and Mary arrived about an hour after them, Tom had brought his laptop so that he could continue to work, Sanditon project was his life. They chatted about all and nothing but no one mentioned what might be wrong with Arthur. 

A doctor came out to see them. He asked Diana to come through to the side room, she asked Sidney to go with her.   
“We have in our records that you are the next of kin Miss Parker” the doctor said.   
“Yes, this is my brother Sidney. How is my Arthur?” She asked.   
“He’ll be ok, we have done some tests and the only thing that is alerting to us is he is diabetic. Were you aware of this?”   
“No, we weren’t. So he will get better?”  
“He will need to learn to manage it, that includes through diet as well as some medication. We want to keep him in for a few days, get his blood sugar level stable, see the dietitian, make sure we get his medication right for him. Would you like to see him?”  
“Yes please” Diana sobbed. Relieved that he would be ok, upset that he had the diabetes.   
“It’s two at a time though, so your other visitors will have to wait” he said as he stood to see them to the door. 

Relieved, Sidney went outside to update Tom and Mary, while Diana followed the doctor to Arthur. Sidney followed on a few minutes later, trying to remember the directions the doctor gave. 

It was almost half past eight when Sidney dropped Diana home, more than anything he wanted to see Charlotte. It was a long shot, but he decided to call her one more time. Maybe she hadn’t called back because Alison had told her there was something wrong and she was waiting on him. To his relief she answered.   
“Hi” she said quietly, something was wrong, he could tell by her tone.   
“Hi, are you ok?” He asked tentatively.   
“Yes, you? Alison said you had a family emergency”  
“I just left the hospital. Are you home? I could really do with some company”  
“Sure, call by” Charlotte found herself saying. She could hear in his voice that he meant what he was saying. He could hear that she wasn’t as ok as she was saying.   
“Have you eaten or shall I bring something?”  
“I had some soup”  
“I’ll be about twenty minutes”   
“See you then”

Sidney rang the buzzer for her flat, Charlotte let him in. She still felt a little upset about the other woman, but she felt suddenly nervous too now that he was almost at her door.   
“Hi,” he greeted her with a kiss on her cheek. Charlotte saw the look of exhaustion and grief on his face and she pulled him into her arms, where he stayed for a moment, tears silently running down his face. He had not realised how much he needed her until now. She finally released him and he came fully into the flat. She shut the door and they went through to the lounge. He was carrying Chinese food and it smelt delicious.   
“Do you want a plate or cutlery?” She asked as he placed the bag on the coffee table.   
“Yes please” he said as she disappeared to the kitchen.   
“I didn’t know what you liked so I bought my usual and thought we could share” he said as she returned. “I’m hungry but I’m not sure if I can eat anything”   
“Do you want to talk about it?” 

He opened all of the containers and both armed with a fork, they picked at the food while they talked. Sidney told her about the trip to the hospital and how worried he was about Arthur. He had text Diana to check on her, she had a friend coming to stay. Charlotte wanted to ask about the woman she’d seen him with earlier but felt it might not be the right time so she left it. But a while later, he brought up that he’d seen her coming out of the coffee shop after he’d been there with an investor that he was trying to sweeten up for Tom. Charlotte felt an idiot so decided not to say that she’d seen him too. 

Sidney looked exhausted, Charlotte was feeling tired too.   
“Do you want to stay?” She asked, feeling extremely nervous. “You look like you need someone to just hold you while you sleep so you don’t feel so alone”  
“I’d like that, though I would rather hold you while your sleep so you don’t feel so alone.”


	16. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little one I was working on last night, finished now while taking a break from writing a presentation

Sidney woke up with Charlotte still in his arms, he smiled and for a moment allowed himself to just enjoy her being there. Who would have thought a couple of weeks ago that his life would feel this complete? A pang of guilt came over him as he suddenly remembered that Arthur was in hospital. He is in the right place, he told himself, and many people live perfectly normal lives with diabetes. Sidney had worried about Arthur’s weight for a while now, and wondered if this was part of the problem, he would have to be careful going forward now.

Charlotte stirred, Sidney wondered if she was listening to his thoughts, he bent and kissed her head.  
“Good morning” he whispered to her softly  
“Good morning to you too. Did you manage to get some sleep?”  
“I did, thank you for staying with me”  
“Technically, you stayed with me” she smiled, feeling warm and safe in his arms, this was a new feeling for her, even when she had had boyfriends in the past, she had never felt this safe and comfortable with them, especially not so soon after meeting. Forgotten was the woman in the coffee shop.

“What time is it?” she asked, not wanting to move from his body.  
“Just before seven”   
Charlotte sighed, almost time to get up for work.  
“That was a big sigh” he said, pulling her closer.  
“I have to get up for work soon, to leave this safe space and back to reality”  
Sidney wondered about her choice of words, he felt a stab of pain in his heart that she did not feel safe all the time, or at least most of the time.   
“I shall take you in on my way home, I need to check some stuff from the house before I head back to see Arthur”  
“Tell him I was asking, but are you sure it is not too much trouble? I can get the bus”  
“You, Charlotte Heywood, will never be too much trouble for me” he said, kissing her as the alarm sounded next to them, causing them to jump. 

Sidney made coffee and cereal for them both while Charlotte showered and dressed for work. He looked so handsome with the winter morning sunlight shining through the kitchen window on him as he busied himself. He looked so content and at home, she thought, standing watching from the door for a moment.   
“I bet your place is grander than this” she said, finally, forcing herself to move from her trance.  
“Why don’t you come over for dinner after work tomorrow?” he offered “I should know more today on the situation with Arthur so can make a commitment and keep it”  
Charlotte blushed, she wanted to say yes, but the words would not come out. Sidney stopped and looked at her disappointed.

“Do you not want to come?” he asked  
“It’s not that Sidney. Family comes first though. I cannot bear to make plans with you, knowing Arthur is unwell in hospital. Ring me like last night and I will come to you, or you can come here. When we know he is well, or home, or stable at least, then we can make plans” she said stepping toward him and putting her arms around him, suddenly feeling empty and needing to feel him. They did not know much about each other’s past and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to share her hurt, but she felt it in this moment. 

Sidney was not sure if Charlotte was feeling her own hurt or his, whether she felt her own need to hold him or his to hold her in that moment. He wondered again, what he had done to deserve this beautiful, kind, compassionate, thoughtful woman, but whatever it was, he was keeping her. He held her tight for a moment. Charlotte could hear his heartbeat as her head rested on his chest and she relaxed into him.  
“I understand what you are saying” he said to her, still holding her “and you are right, I just wanted to share some of me with you, I don’t want you to think I am hiding anything from you, or taking advantage of you by coming here”  
“I don’t think that”

“Good, I am grateful to you for staying with me when I needed someone, needed you, last night and now. You need to eat your breakfast now though and we need to get to work. As much as I don’t want to leave you”  
“I will be finished by four today and off tomorrow as it is my turn to do the Saturday this weekend. If you need me, you only have to call” she said kissing his cheek and moving to pick up the bowl of cereal, suddenly hungry. 

One they had finished their breakfast, they gathered their things and headed out to Sidney’s car.  
“I feel like a princess being driven to work rather than going on the bus” she said smiling at him.  
“I hope you always feel like a princess”   
“Oh, shut up, don’t be so daft, I will never be a princess. I am not a pretty dress and tiara girl; comfy PJs and fluffy socks are more my thing”  
“I don’t know about that; you looked every bit the princess last weekend”  
“Don’t get too used to that, it was very stressful, though it was a nice treat”  
“Well, mi ‘lady, delivered to your destination.” He said smiling, pretending to doff his non-existent cap. “I will text when I get to the hospital, keep you updated and ring you later, hopefully see you later or definitely tomorrow” he leaned over to kiss her before she got out of the car.   
Charlotte walked into work as Sidney drove off.

“That is a big smile Charlotte Heywood” Barbara said, holding the door for her. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with that handsome chap in the fancy car would it?”   
Charlotte felt her face redden. “I don’t know what you’re talking about” she said, unable to stifle the smile.  
“Of course, you don’t, I might not be your mother Charlotte, but I have known you all your life, you cannot hide anything from me. Now, what is his name? where did you meet? And more importantly, when will I get to meet him?”  
“It is a long story Aunty, leave it for lunch time” she said, walking off.  
“I hope you are using protection” Barbara whispered coming up behind her laughing.  
Charlotte gasped. “Aunty Barbara, we have barely just met, I am certainly not doing anything like that!” she paused “just yet anyway” she added. They both laughed and walked to the staff room to deposit their bags and coats, then Charlotte realised that she hadn’t made any lunch. She quickly took her phone out and text Sidney to tell him how distracting he was.

Charlotte went up to the staffroom for lunch, she put the kettle on as she waited for her Aunt, she had a cereal bar in the bottom of her handbag, that would see her through until four, then she would walk around to the high street and grab something on her way home.   
Barbara walked in carrying a package wrapped in tin foil.   
“For you” she said handing it over. Charlotte looked confused and intrigued. It felt soft like bread. She opened it carefully. As she removed the first layer, there was a note – “Can’t have you starve. S x” Charlotte grinned. She opened the next layer and there was another note. “Made by my fair hand” it was a cheese and ham sandwich.  
“From lover boy I presume” Barbara said.  
“Yes”   
“He’s very handsome”  
“Did you meet him? Did you say anything to him?”  
“I did meet him, I merely said I would pass on the parcel. Now you need to tell me all the gossip” she smiled. Then added “Your mother would be pleased to see you smiling again. Maybe she even sent him to you with her angel wings”   
Charlotte smiled back, this time with sorrow in her eyes.   
“Well, it all started, New Year’s Eve” she began.

At the hospital, Sidney sat by Arthurs bed, he was awake and chatting, he was not happy about the change to his diet though.   
“When can I come home Sidney?”  
“Couple more days, Arthur, have they explained what the situation is?”  
“Yes, I know I have to be more careful, it is type two, so can be controlled. Diana is going to be insufferable, isn’t she?”  
“She loves you and she cares, that’s all” Sidney said, Arthur rolled his eyes. “I am happy to see you more settled today, you had me worried yesterday”   
“Is your new girlfriend looking after you? She is pretty”   
“She is, did you know her sister works for Tom and Mary?”  
“Will you bring her to see me? You should take her out somewhere nice”  
“I will bring her if you want to see her, but she might not come, she thinks family comes first and she has told me to concentrate on getting you well, she will be waiting for me when you come home”  
“Bring her, take her out for dinner after, when Diana gets here, make her family”  
“You are a wise man Arthur Parker”


	17. Seventeen

Charlotte was glad to see four o’clock. The rain had come in after lunch and that always seemed to make the library fuller and louder. Students today always seemed to have earphones in and there was a constant buzzing and tinny noise whenever you walked past. The saving grace was working with her aunt, who was always as close a mother to her as her own mother was and had taken her and Alison under her wing when their mother had died. That was the main reason she had moved to London, to be closer to Barbara, as she found herself being placed into her mother’s shoes by her father, expected to take on the household tasks and checking on her younger brothers. Alison had followed, because she missed Charlotte, she said, but she was also stepped up to their mother’s role when Charlotte left. Alison was feistier than Charlotte and without her there to keep the peace, she knew Alison would not last long at home. 

Her brothers were happy to be with their father, she had heard from William, the eldest of her younger brothers, that their father was to remarry, she had discussed this with Barbara when she found out, wondering if they would receive an invite to the wedding. Barbara suspected not, Charlotte was more able to be objective and give everyone the benefit of the doubt, even if it meant that she was hurt in the process, so she felt confident that her father would want his daughters present, even if not Barbara, and would want them to come and meet her soon. Charlotte hugged her Aunt goodbye, promising to have a restful day off and promising that her and Alison would come for tea on Sunday afternoon. Placing her hood up at the door, she made a run for the bus stop and hoped that there would be room to sit.

Sidney left Arthur as Diana arrived, he filled her in on what the doctor had advised and that the plan was for Arthur to be discharged the day after tomorrow. He told Arthur he would see him tomorrow afternoon and bring him a special treat, and with a wink he left them. Arthur winked back at him and smiled, before Diana began to admonish him for letting Sidney bring him treats when he now had to be so careful with his diet. Arthur did not want to tell her that his treat was a visit from Charlotte. He wanted to get to know the girl who had brought his brother back to him, before Diana was able to interfere. 

Sidney ran to the car through the rain, checking the time, it was gone four, he was annoyed at himself that he had not kept a closer eye on the time and that Charlotte had had to get the bus. He rang her anyway, to see where she was.  
“Hello Sidney” she answered, Sidney was concerned at the noise of the street in the background.  
“Where are you? It sounds busy” he said   
“Still on the bus stop, the first bus was full and the second hasn’t arrived yet, it is too wet to walk” she said sadly.  
“Stay there, I will come and get you now” he said   
“Don’t be silly, I am sure you are busy, I can wait for the bus”  
“I have a plan, I am about ten minutes away, fifteen at the most, wait for me, please Charlotte” he said, before hanging up the phone before she could argue. 

Charlotte looked at her phone, he had hung up on her, she could not leave now even if the bus arrived, what would he think of her. He was a cheeky bugger, but she liked it, she thought smiling at the blank screen. 

Sidney called Crowe on his hands free from the car.  
“Parker, what can I do for you?” he said answering.  
“Who says I want something?”  
“When do you ever ring me in the middle of the afternoon, just for a chat, or to see how I am?”  
“OK, I do want something, can you get me a table in your restaurant for today?”  
“What time?”  
“About an hour?”  
“Take your pick, we don’t open until seven tonight so you can have any table and I will get the chef to make you anything you want. I am assuming you are not inviting me to dinner!”  
“You are more than welcome to join us, Charlotte and I that is”  
“You are still chasing that one, are you? She must be a good one, you usually sleep with them and move on, so either she’s very good in bed and you’re holding on or you haven’t got her into bed yet”  
“Crowe, this is different, it is not like that at all, she is not one of those types of girls, this is real, she is the most real woman I have ever encountered”  
“Then you haven’t taken her to bed, in which case I won’t join you, you can wine and dine and get your way with her”  
“You are impossible, remind me why I am friends with you?”  
“Because I have access to the best clubs and restaurants in London”  
“You are wicked, and I am almost at the bus stop to pick her up. I’ll see you in half an hour” he laughed. From the outside they often looked like two friends who hated each other but in fact, they were the best of friends.

Sidney pulled up at the bus stop and Charlotte got in, he wanted to lean over and kiss her, he always wanted to kiss her, but the flow of traffic would not allow for that, so he pulled off and told her he was taking her out for a meal.   
“There is no need, Sidney, you already brought me sandwiches for my lunch” she said   
“I know, but I wanted to make it up to you properly. A proper date as we haven’t really had one”  
“Yes, we have, we went to get coffee in the drive through, you helped with my cakes and you took me to that fancy dance”  
“I mean, properly, a meal, being able to talk, even if you don’t have time to get dressed up, oh, and Arthur wants you to come and visit tomorrow with me, if you don’t mind”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, I haven’t visited in a hospital since my mother died, can I think about it?”   
“Of course, you can sweetheart, I am so sorry, I did not know” Sidney said putting a hand on hers as they drove the short distance to the restaurant. Sidney parked and they both got out.   
“It looks closed” Charlotte said, “Are you sure you have the right place?”  
“Yes, just you watch” he said knocking on the door. 

Crowe answered the door with a cheeky smile.  
“Welcome my old friend” he said opening the door and allowing them to walk in. “Take your pick of the tables, we don’t open for another two hours. Chef will make you anything you desire, but you’re stuck with your old friend as your waiter” he smiled.   
“You are welcome to join us” charlotte said, “As we are putting you out”  
“Oh, no, my old friend doesn’t want me cramping his style when he is trying to charm the ladies”   
“Ladies? Is this a regular thing for our Sidney? Maybe you and I should have dinner and you can fill me in” Charlotte said, linking arms with Crowe smiling.  
“Oh, I could tell you some stories believe me”   
“Maybe you could tell them another day?” Sidney protested,   
“I shall be honoured to have dinner with you” Crowe said, winking at Sidney. Sidney sighed, he could not predict how this conversation would go, but it was now or never for her to hear anything she might be told.

They chose a table and sat down, Crowe offered them a menu and went to get drinks.   
“Are you sure you want Crowe to eat with us?” Sidney asked.   
“He can’t tell me anything that would scare me off, unless of course you have a wife and seven children, and you are using me as your bit on the side” she smiled.  
“Of course not, six maybe, but not seven” Sidney laughed, “But I may not have been the nicest of people to be around before I met you”   
“We all have our secrets, maybe in time we will share them with each other”  
“I am sorry about your mother; would you like to tell me about her”  
“When we are on our own I will” she said, a look of sadness coming over her.  
“Come back to mine tonight? Lay beside me again and give me restful sleep”  
“Ask me again when we are leaving” she smiled, Sidney looked concerned, “I need to know what Alison is up to” 

Crowe returned with the drinks and took the order out to the chef. He stayed away while the meals were being cooked leaving Charlotte and Sidney alone to talk. The conversation as always was easy, as if they had known each other always. Charlotte told him about her Aunt, who he had met when he brought the sandwiches, Sidney told her about meeting Crowe and all of his many businesses, including the club where they met on New Year's Eve. When Crowe returned with their meals, they all sat together and ate, they shared stories and laughed together and felt like old friends. Crowe was tame with his stories, he liked Charlotte, he liked the Sidney he was when he was with her. The old Sidney from before Eliza, before she locked his heart and soul. 

Charlotte’s phone pinged when they were getting ready to leave, it was Alison, asking if Charlotte would be ok on her own, if she stayed the night with James. Alison had almost moved out of their flat, the amount of time she wasn’t there, if she wasn’t staying the night at work, she was with James. She had not slept at home for five nights now, they had not eaten together, sat in the lounge together, seen each other face to face. Alison had no idea about Sidney but was not concerned enough about Charlotte to come home. Charlotte text her back saying that she had lived on her own for long enough before Alison arrived so she would be fine. She also told her that they were going to Barbara’s on Sunday for tea, to which Alison replied that she would be bringing James to meet their Aunt. What Alison did not disclose to Charlotte was there had been an invitation in the post today when she had called in to change, for their father’s wedding. Alison was adamant that they would not return to their father, that he was not to be forgiven for replacing their mother or for the way he had made the girls step up when she had died. Alison knew that Charlotte would try and talk her into going to the wedding, so it was better all round if she did not know. Her father would be mad at them for not going, which would give them the perfect excuse not to visit. 

“I will stay if you want me to” Charlotte said to Sidney as they reached the car. Sidney pulled her in and kissed her. Charlotte melted into him not noticing the rain that was pouring down around them. He made her feel like she was important, she could not remember the last time she felt like she mattered to someone, other than Barbara, but she always tried to play impartial with Alison and make her matter as well. She thought about telling Sidney how she was feeling, but this was not the place, she would tell him when they were home, in his arms, feeling safe.


	18. Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Warning - A little bit more description of intimacy than usual for this story but by no means explicit and also discussion of death that may be upsetting**
> 
> However there is a beautiful Sidney moment to make up for it (Hopefully)

Charlotte and Sidney stopped by her flat for her to grab a change of clothes on the way to his house. They chatted comfortably about nothing in particular in the car but found that they were getting to know each other in the process, and they had many things in common. They pulled onto Sidney’s drive and Charlotte sat for a moment taking in the sight of the house in front of her.   
“It is beautiful” Charlotte said with a smile.   
“It is just a house, nowhere is truly a home without someone to share it with, a family” he shrugged undoing his seatbelt to get out of the car. He moved around and opened her door for her, then insisted on carrying her bag with her clothes and toiletries.

As with everything about this man, the house was well presented, it had been carefully thought of to make the best of the space available, but in Charlotte’s opinion, it lacked the warmth of a female touch, it was a manly house. It was clean and sleek, but not warm and colourful, it was predominantly white, grey and black. She walked from the large hall into the lounge. This room as the hall was clean and bland, there was a large sofa that took up most of the wall on one side and a smaller sofa the other side. This did not look like a room where you would relax in the evening. Charlotte barely noticed the television in the corner until she was almost out of the room, apparently this was where he relaxed and watched the television. The went through to a large kitchen and dining area, it was light and bright and clean. This was a space for entertaining. Charlotte could imagine people milling around here drinking, chatting, mingling, or a dinner party around the large table. The only give away that Sidney had other people in his life was here, where there was a selection of drawing on a pin board on the far wall, these must have been done by the children that Alison looked after. Alison had told her that they were pleased to see their uncle when he called to the house and that he was very affectionate with them, despite not looking like the parenting type. 

“Can I get you anything?” Sidney said moving toward a countertop with some gadgets on. “Hot drink? Cold drink? Alcohol? I have a machine here that makes Latte” he smiled at her tapping the machine as he introduced it to her, or maybe he was introducing her to it?   
“Whatever is easier for you, I don’t want to put you out, water is fine” she said smiling back.   
“How about a glass of white, I have a bottle here in in the wine fridge” he said moving over to the island in the middle of the kitchen and opening a door of the end of it. Charlotte moved to see his collection, the fridge was full of bottles of wine, she looked at the other end of the island and noted that there was a wine rack that end too, with non-chilled selections of wine.   
“Yes, that is good with me” 

Sidney poured two glasses of wine and led her through a door toward the far end of the kitchen.   
“This is my space, I don’t let many people in here” Sidney said, holding the door for her to walk in. This was obviously his office, it had a desk on one side of the room and a large, floor to ceiling solid oak bookcase, full of books. There was a large window that looked out onto the garden, and on the other side opposite the desk, were two armchairs either side of a log fire. Now this room looked warm and friendly. Sidney set about lighting the fire after placing the two glasses of wine on the small table between the chairs.   
“Take a seat,” he offered, “It will warm up in here before you know it”   
Charlotte sat in the armchair and sunk into the cosiness of it.  
“I was not expecting this, this room is nothing like the rest of the house” she said  
“Well, I live alone, I don’t use most of the house, this does me in the evening or working if I am home, else I just go to bed” he said finally getting the fire to light.   
“I can imagine, I spend a lot of time in my room or in bed when I am on my own, especially in these winter months, there’s something about being tucked up and warm in bed in the dark nights, saves on the heating to be tucked up in bed too” Charlotte said with a little laugh.   
“Yes, I don’t see the point of heating this whole house when I am not always here. There are four bedrooms upstairs too, so it is a fair size and cost.”

Charlotte could not think about the bedrooms upstairs, she was feeling somewhat nervous now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what she expected, but it wasn’t this grand house. Sidney seemed so normal when they were together, she wondered for a moment what he saw in her.   
“Penny for your thoughts,” he said watching her, she seemed to be thinking about something and off somewhere in those thoughts.   
“I was wondering why you want to spend so much time with me” she said, a little embarrassed at saying her thought out loud.   
“What a thought to have, Charlotte? Why would I NOT want to spend time with you? You are beautiful, funny, down to earth, you are caring and intelligent, need I go on”  
“You forgot to say I am a great kisser” she said smiling, feeling embarrassed and trying to use her humour to mask it.  
“Well, that’s a given. Let me remind myself of that fact” he said leaning forward to kiss her lips gently. As their lips met, they both felt that familiar bolt of electric run-through them and their insides warmed immediately. Sidney moved his hand to stroke her face and Charlotte responded, parting her mouth slightly, inviting him in. Her hand moved forward and rested on his knee as he sat on the chair opposite her. Sidney took her invitation and kissed her fuller, moving from his seat to be closer to her. He kneeled in front of her and pulled her toward him, so that she too was kneeling on the floor, their bodies almost touching. 

Sidney pulled away and helped her back to her chair.   
“Yes, Charlotte, you are a great kisser” he said with a smile.   
“But I am sure you could have any woman you wanted, someone more of your circle, if that is the right word, I just feel that maybe, I am not in the same standing as you”  
“Charlotte, you are more than equal to any woman I have met or dated. You are real, you are not obsessed with money or status, you see me for who I am, not what I may have, the same as I have seen you for who you are. You bring out the best in me”  
“Thank you, I have to say that you do see the real me, more than anyone else I have in my life. My aunt Barbara, who you met earlier, she is the only other person who sees the real me. Most people know me as Barbara’s niece, since I came to London, I have always been Alison’s sister, or Jack and Helen’s daughter, until mum died that is”  
“Would you mind if I asked you about your mum? I don’t want to upset you”  
“I like to talk about mum, I talk about her with my Aunt, I can’t talk to dad, it upsets him too much, he’s met someone else now, I haven’t met her yet, but my brother says they are to be married soon. My mum was wonderful. She was a proper motherly figure, no matter who came to the house, they were treated like one of the family to her. she loved music, played the piano, tried to teach me but I just couldn’t grasp it fully” Charlotte smiled at the memory, “But I share her love of music, it speaks to your soul, my dream since coming to London is to see the Phantom of the Opera in the West End, but, well, you know how it is, life, bills, work, they all get in the way, but it is still on my list”

“I love music too, I can play the guitar, badly, but often you can guess the tune” Sidney said laughing. “I have heard you singing to the radio in the car when you think I am not listening, you have a lovely voice too”  
“Oh, I definitely don’t have a lovely voice, but like I said, it speaks to your soul, I often cannot help myself, though I will try to now I know you have caught me” she said laughing again. “You would have liked my mother, Dad says I look like her, I think that’s part of why we struggled living in the same house when mum was gone, I reminded him too much of her”  
“May I ask what happened?”  
“Brain tumour, one day she just collapsed, she couldn’t speak, I called an ambulance and dad went with her to the hospital, I looked after Ali and my brothers, I have three younger brothers, he came home that night and said that they found something on her brain and that there was nothing they could do for her. We saw her a couple of times over the next week, I got to say goodbye, then she was gone” Charlotte felt the tears come to her eyes and she swallowed to try and hold them back. Sidney could feel the emotion in her and moved to her, pulled her to her feet and held her, she surprised herself as the tears overwhelmed her and she cried.

“I am so sorry,” she said, pulling away from him  
“Don’t ever be sorry for being yourself, it sounds like you have had to be strong through all of this, maybe this is the first time you have had the chance to let it out”   
“I feel safe in your arms, like it is ok to be me, and even when I feel vulnerable, like just now with the tears, you make me feel it is ok to let it out, like I am protected”  
“I want you to feel that way, I feel that I too can be vulnerable with you” he said kissing her head and wiping a tear with his thumb. “I know, let’s make some hot chocolate and go to bed, I think we both need to just lay in each other’s arms while we talk tonight”

Charlotte nodded and followed him to the kitchen, she watched as his fancy machine made noises and spat out two mugs of hot chocolate, Sidney opened the cupboard door and pulled out a packet of biscuits. He told her to follow him, and he led her back to the hall, to the stairs and to his bedroom.


	19. Nineteen

Sidney and Charlotte changed for bed, then climbed into the large King size bed that was placed opposite the window behind the door. There was an en-suite bathroom to the left of the main door. Sidney handed Charlotte her hot chocolate from where he had placed it on his bedside table. He placed the packet of biscuits on the bed between them.   
“How are you feeling now Charlotte?” he asked with concern.  
“A little lighter if I am honest, I wonder how long those tears had been there” she said, before taking a sip of the hot chocolate. “Wow, this is good hot chocolate, remind me to thank your machine in the morning”  
“I hope you have turned your alarm off now, let us enjoy your day off”  
“Good point let me check” she said leaning to the table her side of the bed and checking her phone. “I will come and visit Arthur with you tomorrow” she said turning back to him, “I think I might be ready to set foot into a hospital again and it might be good for me, knowing he will be coming home”  
“Only if you are sure, we can leave at any time, Arthur will understand” he said, putting a hand on her lap while she drank. 

They finished their hot chocolate and a biscuit or two with it, and after placing their mugs on the side, Charlotte tucked herself into Sidney to feel his arms around her. The room was lit only by the lamp on his side of the bed, she had turned hers off, and Sidney was telling her a story of one of their escapades that he, Crowe and Babington got up to when they were at university. Charlotte was finding it hard not to laugh at his tale, and Sidney informed her that she was as bad as Crowe and Babington to find the situation funny, before he laughed himself.   
“I am sure Crowe has a lot more stories for me, and that you do not come out as the more sensible friend” Charlotte said, placing her hand on his chest and she got comfortable. She was feeling tired now, though she knew it was not absurdly late, crying always made her tired. She tried to stifle a yawn, but Sidney noticed and as if reading her mind, he said  
“Crying always makes you tired, I shall turn the light off and if you drop off, I will hold you tight all night, like you did for me last night”   
“I should brush my teeth first” she said but did not move to get up. Sidney leaned over, knocked off the light and nestled into the bed properly from their sitting position, keeping an arm around her to hold her to him. They talked a little longer, but Charlotte could not hold off the sleep for long and dropped off in his arms, with Sidney following close behind her. 

When Charlotte woke, she was alone in the strange bed, it took her a minute to remember she was in Sidney Parker’s bed, in his grand house. She wondered where he had gone, but seeing the door to the bathroom was open, she thought it safe to assume he was not in there and she got up to use the toilet and brush her teeth. Sidney came back into the bedroom as she was coming out of the bathroom, he was carrying a tray with coffee, juice, pancakes, cereal and fruit.  
“I have never had breakfast in bed before” Charlotte said looking at the tray.  
“Then climb back in and let us make this the first of many” he said leaning forward to kiss her and almost tipping the tray.  
“Put that down before you make a mess everywhere, I do not want this first breakfast in bed to be ruined” she said smiling and moving to climb back into bed. 

In the daylight, Charlotte could see that this room was similar to the downstairs. Decorated in grey and white, with a little bit of colour on a throw draped over the foot of the bed and a stripe through the middle of the curtains to match, again quite a manly décor. Sidney placed the tray down and climbed into bed next to her,   
“I have decided to cash in on that kiss you just refused me, before I let you have your breakfast”  
“I actually didn’t refuse you; I just didn’t want you to tip the tray, the kiss is all yours now Mr Parker” she said turning to face him and glad she had just brushed her teeth. Leaning into each other they kissed and for the moment, all thoughts of breakfast disappeared. They had not known each other long, barely a month, but Charlotte wondered how much longer she could restrict herself to just his kisses. The more she tasted of him, the more she wanted of him and by his reaction when he kissed her, she suspected he felt the same way. 

Charlotte moved from his lips and leaned over to reach the glass of orange juice on the side, she smiled at him cheekily as he followed her with his eyes.   
“Breakfast, good idea” he said, trying to hide his disappointment and not being able to enjoy her for longer, but he also wanted her to know that she was not the current ‘flavour of the month’ that he was not just trying to get her into bed – though technically she was in his bed. He picked up a strawberry and fed it to her, as he brought the tray to his lap for them both to reach.   
“Thank you for this” she said, feeling happy for the first time in a while.  
“You know I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you before” he said  
“You’re not too bad yourself”   
“I know Crowe says I have a reputation, but I am not trying to just have my way with you”  
“I guessed, if that was the case, you would not have let me sleep next to you for two nights and you probably wouldn’t have talked so personally to me, well, that’s my assumption based on people I have met in the past” 

Sidney leaned over and kissed her again, this time on her cheek and they enjoyed breakfast in bed and conversation. Charlotte loved that they could talk so freely, that she didn’t feel that she was stuck for what to say and that even if she said something that she thought sounded stupid, he never belittled her or pulled her up on it, as she didn’t when he said something, she found a little crazy.   
“I could stay here forever” she said, leaning into him after they finished their breakfast.  
“Why don’t you?” he asked, putting his arm around her.  
“Too many reasons” she sighed  
“Like what?” he asked curiously  
“I can’t afford to give up work to stay in this comfortable bed with you, I have my own flat that I will have to go home to later this evening, I will smell really bad if I stayed in bed forever and we may starve to death unless you had food delivered to the bedroom” she laughed  
“All valid points, I don’t know if I will want you anymore once you start to smell” he said, pulling her in to kiss her again. “But for now, I cannot keep my hands off you so I will grant you another hour in bed with me”  
“That sounds like a deal, she said between kisses. This time, however, neither were able to control their urges and they soon found themselves naked and entwined in each other, breathing heavily, hearts racing and bringing each other to places of pleasure with their touches and eventual lovemaking. 

When they finally rose from bed, it was noon, the sun was shining a through the window and Sidney really did not want to leave her.   
“I suppose we should shower and dress if you still want to come and see Arthur with me” he said sitting on the side of the bed.  
“I do want to come, but I cannot promise I will not be upset when I get there”  
“You know I will keep you safe the best I can, always”  
“Always is a long time Sidney Parker, how about a promise of just for now?”  
“Charlotte, I’m not going anywhere” he said, standing, “Well, except in the shower” he added as he turned and winked at her, she watched his naked body as he disappeared into the bathroom. She smiled to herself feeling her stomach do a somersault. She heard the water turn on for the shower and he began singing to himself, which made her smile all over again   
“Charlotte Heywood, this is your time for once, enjoy it while it lasts” she said to herself. 

Not feeling as brave a Sidney, Charlotte threw a t-shirt on to walk to the bathroom for her shower, Sidney smiled at her modesty, finding it endearing. He felt so lucky right now and hoped he would not mess things up. This girl was a keeper. He dressed and did his hair, then when he heard her come out of the bathroom, he walked to kiss her lips, before leaving her to dress alone.   
“I shall make us a coffee, are you hungry too?”  
“Not really, that breakfast was lovely, but coffee is great, I won’t be long”  
“Women always say that, then take a good hour to get themselves ready.” He said and disappeared out of the door.

Less than twenty minutes later, Charlotte appeared in the kitchen fully dressed, her wet hair falling in curls around her shoulders with a light touch of makeup on, barely noticeable. Sidney smiled at her.   
“If you want to throw your clothes in my machine, you can leave them here for next time you stay” he said, confident there would be a next time.   
“Who says there will be a next time?” she said, hands on hips in a sassy pose  
“Now I have had a taste of what you can do to me, I am not going to let you go” he said moving toward her and wrapping his arms around her. She leaned up and kissed him, he kissed her back and pulled her closer to him. “We can be a little late to visit” he said in a deep growly voice and Charlotte knew exactly what he was implying.   
“Now, now, Mr Parker, save some for later” she smiled, and Sidney knew she was right.   
“So, I might convince you to come back her tonight?”  
“Not tonight, I have work in the morning, and I need to go back to the flat, I don’t know what Ali is up to either”  
“I will miss you, but I now insist you leave your clothes in my machine so that you have something here when you stay next. It will be easier you staying here, as you have to consider Alison at your place”  
“True, that’s why she often stays at James’s when she’s not in work” Charlotte said, then she went to get her washing from her bag in the hall and placed it in his machine with some of his clothes that were in there to wash. They both drunk their coffee and headed out to the hospital to visit Arthur.


	20. twenty

Sidney took Charlotte’s hand, sensing her apprehension, he could see her breathing had changed.  
“I have you” he whispered, and she took a deep breath as they walked through the door to the main entrance of the hospital. They had just reached the ward, when Sidney made a groaning sort of a noise. Charlotte looked to him and his usual kind face had changed to one of frustration.  
“Sidney” came a booming voice in the corridor, from a man walking toward him, with a lady. She thought she recognised them but could not place who they were. It wasn’t until the lady told the man to be quiet, that she suddenly realised it was Sidney’s brother Tom and his wife Mary, she had met them at the dinner dance. Mary smiled politely at Charlotte and as they got closer, she kissed Sidney affectionately on his cheek.  
“Tom, Mary, I wasn’t expecting to see you here today” Sidney said, trying to sound friendly, but Charlotte was not seeing it.  
“We have that thing on the weekend, remember, so we need Alison to stay and have the children, Gosh, you look like Alison, so we are letting her go early tonight and have tomorrow off, I won’t need Mary tomorrow, but I know you will be in” Tom said, flashing his eyes between Sidney and Charlotte.  
“You will be coming Saturday won’t you Charlotte? Diana won’t be there with Arthur, so I will be needing someone to have a conversation with while my husband is off talking business” Mary said, addressing Charlotte,  
“Um, well, I don’t know” Charlotte muttered, until Sidney cut in.  
“Ah, Tom, with all this worry about Arthur, I completely forgot, what item to we have to be at Lady Denham’s?”  
“Well, it’s cocktails from seven, dinner from eight, she has invited that friend of yours from school, Lord Bodkins or something, you know the one, she thinks he will be a match for her niece, Eleanor” Tom said  
“It’s Babington, and her niece is called Esther, you really should not get that wrong if you are to convince her to invest” Sidney said. “We will be there by eight” he squeezed Charlotte’s hand and she just smiled back.  
“Well, we must go, you go and see our brother, Charlotte, it is good to see you again” Tom said and with that he and his wife disappeared.

“Well, that was a strange conversation” Charlotte said, slightly bewildered, as they walked to find Arthur.  
“That’s Tom, he’s always like that, you’ll get used to him. You will come Saturday, won’t you?”  
“Well, I am working until four so it may be awkward, where do we have to go?”  
“That will be plenty of time, I will pick you up, change at mine, stay at mine, it’s closer, Alison will be at Tom’s she won’t need you”  
“Is there a dress code? I mean, it’s Thursday now! I need time to find something”  
“Smart, not formal, we will sort it” he smiled as they reached the bed, Arthur beamed with pleasure to see them.  
“Charlotte, come and sit in this chair by me, we have a lot to talk about” Arthur said, pointing to the chair next to him, Sidney moved to a pile of plastic chairs under the window and took one for himself to sit on.  
“How are you feeling Arthur?” Charlotte asked kindly  
“All the better for seeing you, I cannot remember a prettier face at my bed since I arrived”  
“Nor a face as handsome as your brother” Sidney said with a laugh as he sat  
“You are only here because I needed access to Charlotte, I have so many stories to share with you about my dear brother” Arthur said  
“Well, in that case, you are my new best friend” Charlotte said with a smile, “But please, do not regale me with all of them this afternoon, for we will have nothing to talk about on our other meetings”

“Oh Sidney, this one is a keeper” Arthur exclaimed, Charlotte blushed, while Sidney nodded in agreement as he placed his hand on hers. “Have you heard him play the guitar yet?”  
Charlotte turned to face him with a look of surprise, then turned back to Arthur, it was not Sidney’s turn to blush. “I have not, but I shall make it my goal to encourage him to play”  
“It’s still early days Arthur, we are still trying to get to know each other” Sidney said  
“Oh yes, I agree, take time to get to know each other properly, people can surprise you, isn’t that right Sidney?”  
“Indeed”  
The trio continued in conversation around food, books, music and television and it was nice for them all to learn about things they both had in common and that they could debate. Arthur suggested a quaint little restaurant and encouraged Sidney to take her there before returning her to her flat. 

When they returned to the flat in the early evening, Charlotte was sad to part from Sidney, he had been very kind to her at the hospital and they had shared a lovely meal before coming home. Alison was out with James and was not due back for another two hours, giving Charlotte time to sort herself out.  
“Do you want to come up for an hour?” Charlotte asked,  
“I do, but I won’t want to leave, so maybe I shouldn’t” Sidney said, leaning over to kiss her.  
“Good point, I will not want you to leave” she said kissing him this time, then adding “I will see you Saturday at four when I finish work then, give me time to find a dress tomorrow”  
“Ok, but if I miss you, I reserve the right to call on you tomorrow” Sidney said, getting out of the car to come round and open her car door and walk her to her door as he could not park closer.

Charlotte put the radio on when she got in, it sounded to quiet and she was feeling sad at leaving Sidney, she had not felt sad being alone in the flat when she had first arrived in London, so it was strange to feel so sad now. She could see that Alison had been home from the mess she had left behind. Charlotte picked up a pair of jeans from the floor and a piece of paper fell from the pocket. Charlotte was not being intrusive but as she picked it up, she noticed that her name was on it as well as Alison’s. She looked further and realised it was an invitation to her father’s wedding. She wondered how long Alison had had it but as it was out of the envelope, there was way of seeing a postmark. Charlotte noted the date and time, for a brief moment, she wondered if Sidney would go with her for moral support, but she also did not want Sidney to meet her father, for fear, that he would end their relationship as it was just beginning. He could be difficult, even without knowing it and she had not seen him at all since she left Willingden and had yet to meet the woman he was to marry. She placed the invitation back in the pocket of Alison’s jeans. She knew how much she hated their father and wondered if she would tell her at all that it had arrived. She placed a reminder of the date and time in her phone calendar then text her father to ask if she could bring a guest, at least if he said yes, she could decide in her own time if she wanted to bring Sidney or not. 

Alison returned back to the flat, eager to catch up with Charlotte,  
“Charlie, I have not seen you for ages” she said throwing her arms around her sister.  
“I have mostly been here” Charlotte replied  
“I know, but James and I, well we have just clicked, I wish you knew what it felt like to be desired and loved, I hope you don’t have to wait too long to find it”  
“I am glad to see you happy Ali, are you staying here tonight?”  
“Yes, sister time”

“For an hour, before I go to bed, I shall put the kettle on”  
“Oh, Charlie, can’t you stay up late tonight, just for me?”  
“I’ll see how tired I am as we go”  
“I hope that James will ask me to move in soon, I spend so much time there anyway” Alison said as she followed Charlotte to the kitchen. “I am sure you would like to have your space back; I am sure you have enjoyed not having me here”  
“Well, it has certainly been tidier here” she said, pointing to the dishes Alison had left in the sink.  
“Oh, I forgot, I will try and remember tomorrow, Mary doesn’t need me tomorrow, but I might have to stay with James tomorrow night as I am needed Saturday to stay at the Parkers, they have another dinner or something, shall I ask if you can come and help me?”  
“I think I might have plans Saturday and Aunty Barbara wants us over for afternoon tea on Sunday don’t forget”  
“I shall be bringing James don’t forget, he will drive us”

“Have you heard from dad?” Charlotte asked, sitting on the sofa with her tea.  
“No, have you?” Alison said, Charlotte felt herself a little angry.  
“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked,  
“Of course, why don’t you believe me?”  
“Because I picked your jeans up from the floor in the hall and something fell out of the pocket”  
Alison looked ashamed, “Promise me you won’t go Charlotte, you know what dad is like!”  
“I should be given the choice Alison!”  
“So, you plan to go?”  
“I have not decided, but I am angrier that you didn’t tell me, I am going to bed” Charlotte said, walking into her bedroom, shutting the door and laying on the bed to cry. Alison came by the door and heard her tears, annoyed that she was crying over their father she walked out of the flat and slammed the door behind her, Charlotte assumed she had gone to James’s which was confirmed a short time later by a text from James asking if she was ok and letting her know Ali was safe. She text James back that she didn’t care, but they both knew that she did.  
Without thinking, she dialled Sidney’s number on her phone, she heard him answer but she couldn’t speak, she just cried, while Sidney spoke from the other end next to her ear. She didn’t hear what he said, but she heard the door twenty minutes later and his voice say  
“Answer the door to me sweetheart” she got up, opened the door and returned back to her bed, Sidney hung up the call now he could see she was safe, followed her to her bed and lay beside her holding her until she stopped.


	21. Twenty One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for this chapter, it is a lot of conversation and not much actually happening, it will pick back up I promise

“You didn’t need to come, I just needed to hear you voice” Charlotte said, once she had calmed down.  
“You couldn’t talk to me, I needed to know you were safe and I knew you needed me to be here”  
“I am grateful, please don’t mistake that, I truly am, I just feel guilty that you came all the way over here for me”  
“I will always endeavour to be here for you when you need me Charlotte, do you want to tell me what upset you so much?”  
“Shall we have a cup of tea with it?”  
“Yes, I will make the tea and I want you to either tell your Aunt you can’t come to work tomorrow or tell her how upset you are so that she can look out for you”  
“Ok” 

Sidney came back into the bedroom as Charlotte was finishing up with her aunt, “She wants to speak to you” Charlotte said handing him the phone, Sidney had barely had a couple of sentences exchanged with her the other day when he dropped a sandwich for her and then he had not known that it was her aunt. Sidney took the phone and narrowed his eyes at Charlotte.  
“Hello” he said, he didn’t want to be informal and call her Barbara, but he didn’t know what her surname was.  
“If you love my Charlie, its Aunty Barbara, if you are undecided, it’s Barbara, if you plan to hurt her, it’s Mrs Matthews”  
“Ok, Aunty Barbara”  
“Good, I know she hasn’t told you but our Ali has a lot to answer for! Ali is planning on bringing that James for afternoon tea Sunday, if you can’t come with Charlie or don’t want to, please keep her away, Charlie has always been the strong one, looking after everyone but since her mother got sick, then passed away, she has never had anyone look out for her and though I try, now Ali is in London, Charlie is on the backburner all over again. I don’t know James, but I can’t risk them ganging up on her”  
“I will look after her I promise you; I shall stay with her tonight and bring her to work in the morning if she is up for being in work”  
“I think it would do her good to being in work, I will be here, she needs to be able to decide on her own what she wants to happen, but she needs to know she’s not alone”  
“I agree”  
“Pass her back please Sidney and thank you”

Sidney handed the phone back to Charlotte and she smiled at him, she was exhausted from crying now, but the tea was a welcome relief.  
“I’m tired now Aunty, I’ll see you in work tomorrow”  
“Sidney is a good man, let him take care of you darling”  
“I will, bye” and she hung up. 

“Aunty Barbara invited me for tea on Sunday, she doesn’t want you to be on your own with Ali and James”  
“She must like you if she’s letting you call her aunty Barbara” Charlotte laughed. “What did she tell you?”  
“Just that Ali has a lot to answer for and to make sure you are ok”  
“She had an invitation to our father’s wedding next month, it fell out of her pocket when I moved her jeans from the floor in the hallway, I asked her about it, she wasn’t going to tell me, she doesn’t want me to go, things are hard with dad, which is why we got away, but he’s still our father and it should be my choice if I go or not” she said, feeling teary again.

“I agree, it should be your choice” Sidney said, putting his cup down so he could put his arm around her, “Is there anything I can do?”  
“No, I need to talk to her, I don’t know if I can live with her anymore though, but I cannot see her homeless”  
“You know you can stay with me while you both work things out”  
“I know, she’s staying with James tonight, he text me after she stormed out, he also asked if I’m ok, he’s not a bad person, he is kind, I know she will be looked after, but I don’t think he wants to get involved between us”  
“It is hard with siblings, I have had many a falling out with Tom, some with Diana, hardly any with Arthur though, he seems to hold us all being younger”  
“I don’t want to cause problems with you and Tom, what with Ali working there. Do you know what she said to me? She said, ‘I wish you knew what if felt like to be desired and loved and I hope you find it someday’. If only she knew I was cared about by someone other than aunty Barbara”  
“Why don’t you tell her you are loved and desired, tell her about me?”  
“Because she doesn’t really care, she will make it about her, it has always been about her, I learnt when we were children that if I had something good, I had to hide it or I would lose it”  
“Then I shall endeavour to give you good things, be that love, memories, experiences or gifts that you can share with me and your aunt and anyone else that you choose, but that you will not need to hide. Will you be ok if Alison decided to move out of here”?  
“I managed before she moved in, she hasn’t long started work, so I have not really seen any benefit from her wage yet. I am frugal and shall continue to be, I have the option of a lodger if necessary or I can Air BnB the room”  
“I don’t like the idea of you having strangers here”  
“It was only recently that you were a stranger”  
“That is different, promise me you won’t take strangers in, I would rather you rent one of my spare rooms before I let that happen”

“That bad in bed that I’m evicted to the spare room is it” Charlotte laughed. Sidney was caught off guard with her comment and for a moment was unsure what to say.  
“Of course, not sweetheart, but it is still early days, I would not want to be presumptuous to say live with me, but I would not want you to come to any harm or hardship either”  
“I am joking” Charlotte said, seeing the expression on his face, then she leaned to him and kissed him, “Did I hear you tell my aunt that you are staying the night”  
“You did, but I am happy to stay on the sofa to preserve your honour” he smiled, making her laugh again.  
“Finish your tea, get your shoes off and get in here with me” she said, pulling the duvet back to climb in.

Charlotte got up for work in the morning and tried to be quiet to let Sidney sleep, she hadn’t slept well, but every time she did wake, Sidney was awake too, checking on her. She quietly opened the wardrobe door and took a dress out, then carefully slid the drawer open for her underwear, it might be cold, but she would go without tights today so as not to make any more noise. She crept out of the bedroom and to the bathroom to shower.

When she came out of the bathroom, she could hear the kettle boiling, she walked to see what he was up to whilst brushing her hair.  
“Sorry I woke you” she said as she stood in the doorway, not wanting to brush her hair in the kitchen, she knew how bad her hair was for getting everywhere.  
“I have to go to work today anyway, and I wanted to drop you off”  
“My knight in shining armour” she smiled with a curtsey, he walked over, kissed her nose and went back to making coffee.  
“Do you want breakfast too?”  
“Well, if I have a lift, I might be tempted to get you to drop me round the corner at the café, their bacon rolls are to die for”  
“I’m sold” he said, handing her the fresh coffee. 

“What did I do to deserve you?” she said as she put her shoes on  
“What did I do to deserve you, you mean” he said, putting his shoes on at the same time. “Do you want me to come over later in case Alison upsets you again, I can just be here for you, not to say anything”  
“Thank you but I think having you hear will make things worse, if she starts tonight, I can get a taxi, either to you or to Barbara”  
“Then you have to ring me so I know, it will settle my mind. Now let’s get going, bacon is calling me” he said.

“Have you thought anymore about Lady Denham’s dinner tomorrow?”  
“Well, I am not really in the mood for socialising, but I figure that is often the best time to go. I will find something to wear today”  
“We don’t have to go; I am sure I can find an excuse to get us out of it.”  
“Your friend will be disappointed”  
“Babington? Yes, he will, he was quite taken by Esther on New Year’s Day, despite her not being quite so interested in him. I will come to Aunty Barbara’s Sunday with you though, let us show your sister that you are as loved and desired as she is”  
“Sidney!” Charlotte protested  
“I know it is early days, but I do love you and I certainly desire you, if you hadn’t sneaked out of bed so quickly this morning, who knows if I would have been able to control myself” he laughed.  
Sidney found a parking space near the café, they ordered their bacon sandwiches to go and ate them as Sidney walked her to work, leaving her at the door with a kiss and a promise to rescue her if she needed it. She assured him she was safe with her aunt and she would call him later. 

She walked up to the staff room and sent Ali a text before she put her bag and phone in her locker, “We need to talk, not argue, just talk, I love you, you’re my sister, but I cannot live like this”  
She would check for a response on her break.

Barbara was pleased to see her looking moderately happy.   
"He is a keeper darling, I see how he lights you up, he cares about you for who you are, those moments are rare"  
"Did Uncle Stanley love you like you were the only woman in the world and nothing was too much trouble for you?"  
"He did, treasure it"  
"Sidney said he will come on Sunday, I think he is coming to see you more than to support me though, he seems to like you alot"  
"Well, I could do with a handsome man" she laughed, sneaking a hug for her niece while no one was looking

"Have you spoken to Alison?" Barbara asked  
"I text her now when I got in. I said we need to talk but I don't know what I am going to say to her"  
"I rang her after you rang yesterday, she says she doesn't need me to act like her mother, she is not like, you, she thinks she is independent, where as you are independent but know I am here for support. She says she is going to move into James flat"  
"If that is what she wants then I am ok with that, I managed before she came to London"  
"But you hardly went anywhere, worrying about saving money"  
"Come on Barbara, we both know she has barely given me a penny toward the rent or anything, she buys her own food but that is it"  
"But you don't want to part on bad terms either?"  
"No I don't. I will go to dad's wedding and she will never forgive me for that"  
"Then we shall go together, we can tell her we are having a weekend away together, she never wants to come when we go, it won't be out of the ordinary and it won't hurt her or you"  
"Thank you Aunty Barbara, I would like that. I also need you to help me find a dress for Lady Denham's dinner tomorrow night"  
"How posh?"  
"Nice dress, not black tie and fancy dress"  
"I have just the thing, I will bring it to work for you tomorrow, that lovely monochrome dress in the photo of me at the last birthday for your mother before she passed. I kept it because she liked it, but it is too small for me now"  
"I promise to take good care, I love it and it will look lovely" 

Barbara then left her niece to go and deal with someone looking for a book on art history.


	22. Twenty Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alison has really made me angry today, I apologise, as I wrote her, you would think I would have made her a little nicer! 
> 
> My husband has said, he thinks that this Sidney is based on him - he's not totally wrong he is a mix of this one and football Sidney.....
> 
> Thank you all for your lovely comments though.

Sidney was waiting outside the library when Charlotte and Barbara left, Sidney offered to take Barbara home, but she insisted she had things to do and did not want to put him out, she kissed her niece on the cheek and walked off before they could convince her to go with them.  
“This is a nice surprise” Charlotte said, pleased to see him.  
“I promised your aunt I would look after you and she definitely doesn’t seem like the type of person you want to cross!” Sidney said.  
“You are so correct on that” Charlotte laughed. “Alison is going to be waiting for me at the flat when I get home” she added, suddenly more seriously.  
“Tell me what you want from me, I need you to be in control and to know I am here for you”  
“Will you come in, just for a short while? I will introduce you before Sunday, just so she knows that I have someone who cares too”  
“Of course, I will go and see Crowe, I won’t be far from you then if you need me, as soon as I know you are ok, I will go home”  
“How disappointing, Crowe promised me some more stories” Charlotte laughed.  
“I am sure he will keep them stored, maybe we can escape Lady D’s early tomorrow and go to one of his clubs, a bit of dancing to cheer you up and a few stories thrown in”  
“That sounds like a plan, I haven’t been out dancing since I met you and I so enjoy it, I don’t know London that well for dancing”

Sidney was pleased with this outcome, he remembered the night they met, he had seen her across the club with her drunk sister, as he now knew, it was the look of pure joy on her face as she danced that he noticed first, he had gently moved his way over to stand next to her at the exact point he knew he could get away with a cheeky kiss, at the time, she had just been an intriguing smile, but her kiss had reeled him in and he could not imagine a life without her now, he felt comfortable with her and protective of her like there was something pulling them together like magnets.  
“Did I hear your aunt say she would bring the dress tomorrow?” he asked after a while of content silence.  
“Yes, she is loaning me a very special dress, it is the one she wore to my mother’s birthday before she died, it is lovely, too small for her now, but I am so honoured that she is letting me wear it”  
“You will look beautiful in it” Sidney said with a smile.  
“How do you know that?” she asked, “You haven’t seen it and I haven’t told you a thing about it!”  
“Because you look beautiful in everything, I have seen you wear”  
“You charmer” she laughed, “I bet I didn’t look beautiful first thing in the morning, hair all over the place and my old pyjamas”  
“That was one of my favourite outfits, are you bringing them to sleep in tomorrow?” he asked, trying to hide a smile.  
“No, I thought I might sleep naked” she said staring out of the window so he couldn’t see her face.

Sidney swerved, “Sorry,” he said, “I just had this image of you naked in my bed”  
“Don’t, it is February, there is no way I am sleeping naked in this freezing weather” she said turning to look at him.  
“Then I shall have to keep you warm” he smiled. “Almost home, are you ready?” he asked then changing the subject  
“To face my sister, yes, I am used to her behaviour, to introduce her to you, not so much”  
“We have met you know?”  
“At Tom’s, I know, but she didn’t know about us”  
“I don’t think she will say anything out of order, she knows who I am”  
“Then you don’t know Ali” she said with a sigh, “I wonder if James will be there, he really is trying to be impartial, he has text and asked if I am ok, which is really kind of him”

“Does he fancy you?” Sidney asked, pulling into her street.  
“Don’t be daft, he is with my sister”  
“It happens”  
“I agree, but I am not interested, he is kind, and he is a nice friend, but that is it in my eyes”  
“Does he know that?”  
“Definitely, he did ask me out once, but that was before he met Ali, he really dotes on her, I am sure of it”

Sidney parked the car and they got out, he followed her up to the flat. Charlotte paused a minute at the door, took a deep breath and put the key in the lock. She felt Sidney touch her hand and it gave her a little strength to face her sister”  
“Hey Ali, it’s me”  
“Hey” Alison said moving from her bedroom to the hallway. “Mr Parker” she said on seeing Sidney, surprised to see him in her flat. “Is everything ok? What are you doing here? Has something happened with your younger brother? Do you need me to go and look after your nieces and nephews?”  
“No thank you Alison, all is well”

Alison seemed relieved yet confused. Charlotte took her coat off while Alison was talking.  
“Tea?” she asked Sidney as she hung her coat up.  
“Yes please” he said smiling at her, she smiled back before turning to face Alison.  
“Tea?” she asked her sister  
“Sure, but what is going on here?” Alison said, following the couple to the kitchen  
“Alison, I would like you to meet Sidney, my….” she hesitated, she hadn’t thought this through, how was she going to introduce him, they hadn’t really talked about their relationship, it was just sort of happening and they were figuring it out as they went along.  
“Boyfriend” Sidney said, finishing her sentence.  
“Boyfriend” Alison repeated,  
“Yes,” Charlotte said, whilst making the tea so she would not have to look at her sister, “You sound surprised”  
“Well, it’s just that you’re a book nerd and he is like, important, Mr Parker and his brothers, they are a reputable family, they have a nanny for their children, they drive posh cars, I just don’t see how you two fit together” she said moving closer to her sister, she whispered  
“Is he taking advantage of you”  
“No, he is not” Charlotte said, finally losing her temper with her sister, she turned to face her.

“Do you know something Alison Heywood, I have had just about enough of you, since the day you could walk you followed me around, and since you could talk, you have put me down, just because I like to read, just because I sheltered you from dad for most of your life”  
“Then you left me to come here!” Alison screamed back at her  
“Yes, because I was twenty-three years old, and I wanted a life of my own. Is that so wrong?”  
“You left me to look after dad, like a housemaid, you were the eldest it was your responsibility, you had no life, you still don’t, it didn’t affect you looking after us, you could read at home!” she stopped to take a breath and before Charlotte could speak again, she continued “He” she said, pointing to Sidney “He will see how boring you are, how the only thing you do is read, how you have to plan your meals all week, how you always tidy up straight away, you are not spontaneous, you don’t have any fun, if it wasn’t for the ticket for new year’s eve from work, you wouldn’t ever go out”  
“I have no choice in that Alison, I have had to budget the bills, my food, I tidy up so I can relax in the evening instead of walking in from work to a mess. I have to travel over an hour and a half to get to and from work each day, not a little twenty-minute walk like you and since you arrived, you have only just started working, who has paid for your accommodation here? ME! That’s who, I cannot afford all the spontaneity you speak of, unless you start contributing and allow me that luxury”

Sidney could see Charlotte getting upset, he didn’t want Alison to think that she had made her sister cry out of her bullying, it was anger pure and simple.  
“Well, you can continue to struggle, I am moving in with James, he appreciates me, he is not just asking me out for a laugh like your man obviously is”

Sidney stepped over to Charlotte and put his arm around her. Quietly and calmly, he said  
“Alison, I think you may have said some things in anger tonight, I should be careful, you may not be able to take it back if you cross a line. Maybe you both need to calm down, but I assure you, I have nothing but the upmost respect for your sister, she is kind and intelligent and beautiful and I am the one who does not deserve her, not the other way around”

Alison stood looking at him in disbelief for a moment. Then matching his calm voice she said.  
“My bags are half packed, I wanted to tell you I am moving in with James in a better way than I just did, I will help you find someone to rent my room, that way you can have more spare money, but you will never be equal to your boyfriend in that, but when it all falls apart and you see I’m right, I will be there for you, you won’t even have to apologise. However, I refuse to go to dad’s wedding so don’t ask. I will see you Sunday, James will drive us to Aunty Barbara’s”  
“Thank you, Alison,” Sidney said, “But Aunty Barbara has invited me also, so I shall drive Charlotte and we shall meet you there, I look forward to meeting your boyfriend, I hear he is a kind and fair man who takes people on their goodwill, not their reputation or fortune”

Alison turned and stormed to her room and slammed the door, they could hear her moving stuff and assumed she was finishing her packing. Sidney pulled Charlotte into his arms and held her close  
“It is ok to cry” he whispered “I think those tears will have anger, sadness, regret and despair in them. But remember this, you are stronger than you believe, and you are a survivor”  
His words caused her tears to come thick and fast for a while. Then she stopped abruptly, stepped back from him and said.  
“Maybe you will be fed up with me one day, I know nothing lasts forever, but I do hope that we at least get to have some great times to balance the bad times. I want to go dancing with you one more time and lay next to you in bed again and for as long as it lasts, I want to continue feeling this special.”  
Sidney moved toward her and kissed her, and she kissed him back, then they heard the door to the flat slam shut.  
“I had better text James and give him the heads up” she said, apologetically to Sidney  
“Then I shall order pizza” he smiled.


	23. Twenty Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Charlotte is having a hard couple of days, but sometimes someone unexpected will cheer you up

Sidney had ended up staying the night again with Charlotte, he got up when she got up to go to work, and dropped her off on his way home, he took her bag ready for going to Lady Denham’s, so she only had to bring her dress with her after work when Barbara gave it to her, though she had packed a backup in case it didn’t fit.   
Charlotte left before Barbara today, she hugged her aunt an promised a photograph to show her tomorrow. Sidney was waiting outside again an opened the door for her to get in as he always did. Charlotte greeted him with a surprise kiss to his cheek, she seemed happy today, which he was pleased at given how last night had gone. Sidney had been shocked to see how vicious Alison had been to Charlotte, though he and his siblings had had screaming arguments as teenagers, maybe to an outsider, they would have looked as bad.  
“How was your day?” Charlotte asked as they pulled out to go to Sidney’s house.  
“Good, worked a few hours this morning, did a bit of cleaning now I have someone to impress, ironed my shirt for tonight, sorted our dancing with Crowe. How was yours?”  
“Less exciting, cleared four shelves of the history section, cleaned the shelves, put them back, ordered a copy of some Greek mythology for a student from the university and read a book for the children’s story corner”

“How is the dress?”   
“I haven’t tried it on, but it is as lovely as I remember, it doesn’t even look its age”  
“Do you mind if I ask how long ago you lost your mum?”  
“Nine years this summer, just around my fifteenth birthday, I haven’t celebrated my birthday since then, Alison was almost thirteen, the boys were four, six and eight”  
“Wow, that’s hard on you all”  
“Yes, it was, dad threw himself into the farm, I took on most of the house, Aunt Barbara came when she could and took us out, but she had to work too, dad’s sister Janet was good to us, she would bring meals for us if I had school, I just had to warm them then”  
“You grew up at a young age, I get that my parents were gone when I hit twenty-one, Arthur was just thirteen, Diana took on the mother role for him”  
“Yes, I remember you saying that there were rumours when he was born”  
“Yes, about that”  
“You don’t have to say anything” Charlotte said.  
“I just found out it is true, Diana is his mother, only me, Diana and our parents know, well and you now”  
“Your secret is safe with me” 

When they arrived at Sidney’s, he offered her to have a shower and start to get ready, it was about an hour’s drive out to Lady Denham’s place. Charlotte took her dress and went upstairs, showered and dressed, Sidney joined her in the bedroom.  
“Wow, you look breath-taking”  
“Do I really?”  
“Yes, you are more beautiful than you realise”  
“And I haven’t even done my hair and makeup” she smiled, Sidney stepped toward her and put his arms around her puling her close.   
“You are still beautiful” he whispered as he kissed her. 

Sidney took his T-shirt off ready to get dressed, Charlotte stared at his perfect torso  
“Maybe we could be a little late to Lady Denham’s she said with a cheeky smile.  
“Charlotte Heywood, you little minx, I do like this cheeky girl” he smiled as they steppe toward each other. Sidney gently unzipped her dress, letting it fall to the floor, as she caressed his chest. 

A short while later, Sidney checked the time, “We really should get ready to leave now” he said, even more not wanting to go to this dinner”   
“I will be ready in twenty minutes” she said, slipping her dress back on, while Sidney dressed in his navy-coloured tailored trousers and the pale blue shirt he had ironed. Charlotte quickly finished off drying her hair and run the straighteners over it, making it silky smooth, then applied a light covering of makeup and she was good to go. Sidney smiled at her with pride as he put his jacket on and picked up his car keys.   
“I shall be the envy of all when we are out tonight” he said holding her coat for her to put on.   
“I think it may be me who is the envy of all tonight” she replied. 

Tom and Mary were already at Lady Denham’s when they arrived.   
“Oh Charlotte” Mary exclaimed “You look so beautiful”   
“Thank you, Mary, as do you” she replied. A waiter appeared at that moment and offered then a glass of champagne from a tray. Sidney took a glass but as he was driving, he told Charlotte he would not be drinking it. They mingled for around quarter of an hour, before they were called in for dinner. Sidney walked next to Charlotte with his hand never leaving her as though he were worried, she would disappear if he did.   
“Lady Denham can be a little intense” Sidney said as they walked in and was relieved to see they were seated with Babington and Esther and opposite Tom and Mary. 

“Are you going to introduce us?” Babington said to Sidney as they sat together  
“Babington this beautiful lady is Miss Charlotte Heywood,”   
“Pleased to meet you” he said,   
“And this scoundrel” Sidney said, turning more to Charlotte, “Is Lord William Percival Babington the third”   
Babington glared at him.  
“Whatever he tells you about me, I have equally bad stories of him, we roomed together in school and I know all of his secrets, but please it is Babington, never, ever, any of the other names”  
“It is lovely to meet you, Crowe also said that he would share some stories with me, I shall stay intrigued” Charlotte smiled.

“She’s a stunner, you should keep this one” Babington whispered to Sidney.  
“It has been tough going, but I think I am hanging on by a thread, you know me” Sidney replied, then he turned to pour water for them all.   
Lady Denham performed in her usual manner, questioning and making her guests feel awkward. She politely enquired about Arthur, then commented that it was his own fault that he was unwell as he obviously doesn’t look after his body. Charlotte hoped she did not speak to her, but just as she thought she was safe, somewhere between the main and the desert, she noticed Charlotte.  
“Mr Sidney Parker, you have brought a guest that you have failed to introduce me to I see”  
“Lady Denham, forgive me, you were busy when we arrived, and I did not wish to interrupt your delicious meal. Please allow me to introduce Miss Charlotte Heywood”  
“Heywood, that does not ring a bell, what part of London are you from?”  
“I moved here almost a year ago Lady Denham, to take up a post at the British Library, I am from a small town called Willingden, in Somerset”  
“Somerset, why have you not got the accent of a farmer?”  
“My mother insisted that we learned to speak properly Lady Denham”  
“Well, your mother is correct, does she miss you being so far away?” Sidney put a hand on Charlotte’s leg.  
“My mother passed away when I was just turned fifteen, though I have no doubt she would be proud of my achievements”  
“Working in a library is hardly an achievement is it?” Lady Denham said, “My niece next to Lord Babington, now she is a patron of a charity for horses, that is an achievement, being recognised as a person of worth and becoming a patron, I have no doubt that Lord Babington is far more intrigued by her company that he would be of yours”   
“I suspect you to be right” Charlotte said before Sidney could speak, she suspected he was getting a little worked up, especially after yesterday with Alison and her comments about Charlotte not being good enough for him.   
“Is it serious Mr Parker?” Lady Denham asked, turning her attention to Sidney  
“Yes, Lady Denham, very serious, Miss Heywood is more than equal to any lady here, her conversation is articulate and stimulating, her wealth of knowledge allows her to converse with any number of people and her beauty is equal to that of your niece, I am sure you would agree. I cannot imagine my life without her” Sidney said, hoping to put an end to the ridicule.   
“I would agree” Babington said, “Having had the opportunity to converse with both your niece and Miss Heywood, I can confirm that their conversation are equally as pleasant and that their beauty is undeniable.

The comment from Babington seemed to appease Lady Denham for now and she moved on to her nephew Edward, who she thought was a disgrace to the name.   
Charlotte took a deep breath; she had suddenly lost her appetite.   
“Please don’t allow my aunt to upset you” Esther said, leaning forward to speak to Charlotte, “As soon as this desert is over, I plan to escape, if you want to come?”  
“Actually, we have plans to attend Crowe’s club in London, Jaspers, why don’t you two come with us”  
“That sounds like fun” Babington said, “What do you say Esther?”  
“I have no way of getting back here afterwards, else I would have joined you”  
“I have a flat in London” Babington said, you can stay there with me, or Sidney has a spare room or three at his house”  
“Ok, let’s get through this cheesecake and get off” Esther said, actually looking pleased for once. 

“I haven’t seen her smile before” Babington said to Sidney “Good call” and he playfully elbowed his friend next to him. They ate quietly then as people started to wander around for air, cigarettes and bathroom breaks, the four of them slipped away to Sidney’s Range Rover to head back to London.

Crowe was over the moon to see the large party. He greeted Charlotte warmly with a hug and a kiss to her cheek and took her arm to lead her through to the VIP area he had waiting for them.   
“Drinks are on the house Charlotte as my special guest” Crowe said to her.  
“You don’t have to do that” Charlotte said, a little embarrassed.  
“Nonsense, these cheeky bastards never pay for anything when they come in, invited or not, so there is no way I am letting you pay for anything. Now tell me, how was Lady Denham’s did I have a lucky escape?”  
“I believe you did Crowe, she does not think kindly of me, though other than you and Sidney and my Aunt, no one seems to think very kindly of me at the moment” she said sadly, thinking on what Lady Denham and Alison had said in the last twenty-four hours.  
“Well, they don’t deserve to have you in their company. Lady D even criticises her own family, so I wouldn’t take anything she says to seriously. Who else has upset you though angel, I shall have then dealt with”?  
“My sister and I had an almighty argument, she thinks I am not good enough for Sidney, there is a long history there, we will get past it”  
“Well let me tell you, I haven’t seen my boy this happy in many a year, he had a young lass at university, they were quite serious, but when his parents died in the accident, she didn’t like him being sad and depressed, so she buggered off with an older, richer man”  
“That is awful, it was hard enough when my mother died, I cannot imagine if I had lost both my parents at the same time”  
“I’m so sorry to hear that Charlotte, have one of mine if you like, I have mother and a step-mother, both think I am wasting my life in the nightclub business”  
“Thank you, my father is to remarry next month, I have yet to meet the future evil step-mother, my brothers say she is nice though”

“What do you think those pair are deep in conversation about?” Sidney asked Babington, watching Charlotte and Crowe deep in conversation and looking serious.   
“Well, they can’t be talking about us, their faces are too serious. Maybe you had better go and reclaim your territory, you know what Crowe is like with the ladies”  
“I think you may be right” Sidney said moving closer to Charlotte. 

Crowe greeted Esther with the same cautious hostility that she always displayed back to him. They all sat together in the VIP area, drinking and chatting and it wasn’t long before the ladies had moved to the dancefloor.  
“Nice to see the ladies getting along” Babington said  
“Yes, Charlotte could do with a friend” Sidney said, watching her with a look of concern  
“Is everything ok?” Babington asked, seeing his friends face.  
“Yes, she is having some hassle from her sister, I have not heard so much rage before seeing them in action yesterday”  
“Don’t get involved is my best advice” Babington said, remember those twins in school, used to rip each other’s hair out at the roots they were so bad” Babington said, with a shiver at the memory.   
“They aren’t that crazy” Sidney said, “They will sort it once they calm down, I am sure. I think it had been held there for a long time”  
On the next song, the men went to join the ladies dancing.   
“Having fun?” Sidney asked, pulling Charlotte close to dance.  
“It is wonderful, thank you for bringing me and for letting me spend time with your friends, they are being so lovely to me”  
“Proof that you deserve to be with me, because my friends approve”  
“Shut up and kiss me” she said, Sidney suspected that she was quite tipsy now, as she was being much more affectionate in public than she ever had before.  
They danced and laughed and talked until the wee hours of the morning and were exhausted but happy as they left. Unsure about going to Babington’s alone, Esther rand Babington both joined Sidney and Charlotte at Sidney’s house. It was lucky he had four bedrooms, though not half an hour after they said goodnight, they heard Babington go to Esther’s room and he didn’t return before they dropped off to sleep.


	24. Twenty-Four

It was gone eleven when Charlotte finally woke up, Sidney was still asleep next to her and the house was quiet, so she assumed Babington and Esther were still asleep too. Charlotte was thinking about going to her Aunt’s for tea. Charlotte crept out of bed and headed downstairs to put the kettle on, she was surprised to see Babington sat at the kitchen table drinking tea.   
“Good morning” she said as she entered the room, Babington looked up from his phone.  
“Kettle hasn’t long boiled, shall I make you one?”  
“Thank you, I don’t know where Sidney keeps anything. I’m sorry if I disturbed you”  
“Not at all, catching up on news”  
“Anything exciting?” Charlotte asked, knowing that the answer would be no,   
“A woman in her seventies, got stuck up a tree when the ladder fell as she was rescuing a cat, wasn’t even her cat!” he said as he handed her a mug and she sat opposite him at the table.  
“Was the cat ok?” Charlotte asked,   
“I don’t know, I gave up reading” Babington said laughing. 

“You are good for him you know” Babington said after a few minutes of silence.  
“He is good for me too” Charlotte admitted.   
“Sidney told me you have had a tough couple of weeks with your sister. You should have seen Tom and Sidney as kids, when they got into it. They have calmed down a lot now as adults”  
“We lost our mother as children, I stepped up, but I think Alison is still stuck as a child at times, like she hasn’t learnt how to communicate as an adult all of the time when it comes to me”  
“Relationships can be difficult, Charlotte, no matter what type they are. When we find ourselves close to someone, we become vulnerable, the closer we get the more opportunity there is for them to hurt us, but when we are hurting, we take it out on that person also, as when we love someone, we forgive them easier”  
“You are a very wise man Babington” Charlotte said smiling “I believe you are right. Alison was closer to me than anyone else after our mother, so as much as she wants to share her happy times with me, she also knows if she hurts me when she is angry, I will forgive her. I think on discovering that I may have a life of my own and another person who is important, that it worried her about sharing me”  
“But I thought she also has a boyfriend?”  
“She does, and I wonder how she behaves with him, he is a very kind and caring man, I think he is good for her, but I wonder how easily she could ruin it for herself if she behaves that way with him. I believe I am in for an interesting afternoon with them both”

Esther walked into the kitchen, “You two are being very philosophical for this time of the morning” she said, moving toward Babington and kissing his forehead affectionately. Babington blushed, Charlotte went to excuse herself to give them some time alone, but Sidney also joined them in the kitchen and between the men, they made a late breakfast or early lunch, as by now it was approaching noon. 

Charlotte and Sidney got ready to go to Barbara’s and left early to drop Babington and Esther to Babington’s London flat so that he could pick up his car, apologising that they had other plans.  
“No need to apologise, you know I keep a car in London, and I will enjoy a drive out to Lady D’s to return Esther to her dungeon” Babington said with a laugh. Esther rolled her eyes and promised Charlotte she would ring her.

“Are you sure you want to come?” Charlotte asked as they made the short journey to Barbara’s.  
“Of course, I think it will be an interesting if not entertaining afternoon” Sidney said with a grin.  
“We can leave at any time” Charlotte said.  
“Are you telling me or asking me?” Sidney asked  
“Yes” Charlotte replied.

“That’s James’s car” Charlotte said as they pulled up by Barbara’s house.  
“You will be ok, you have plenty of people looking out for you” Sidney said, before getting out of the car and coming round to open her door for her.

They walked to the door and Charlotte pressed the bell, Sidney took hold of her hand noticing that she was fidgeting. She turned and smiled at him, though it did little to stop her anxiety, just reassure her that she had an exit plan. 

Barbara answered the door and hugged her niece, then turned and hugged Sidney, catching him a little off guard.   
“So nice to properly meet you, rather than a quick few words here and there. They followed her through to the lounge where Alison and James were sat on the large sofa. James stood and greeted Charlotte with a warm hug and put his hand out to Sidney in a friendly way.   
“Nice to meet you, I’m James” he said,   
“You too, Sidney” Sidney replied shaking his hand. James turned to sit back down and found Alison stood behind him. She greeted Charlotte warmly with a hug and then turned to hug Sidney, again catching him off guard. She was more like the Alison he had met at his brothers in her behaviour today, than she was two days ago. Charlotte gestured to the armchair for Sidney to sit and she sat herself on the floor, not wanting to sit on the sofa with Alison and James. Both men stood to offer her their seat and for a moment, Charlotte noted a hint of jealousy between the two men.   
“Oh, sit down you pair” Barbara said, “Charlotte has sat on the floor all her life. Big Bear will be in any minute to see her”  
Sidney was about to ask who ‘Big Bear’ was when through the door trotted Barbara’s little pug, who proceeded to sit on Charlotte’s lap.   
“You didn’t tell me I had some competition Aunt Barbara” Sidney said smiling.  
“I am surprised she hasn’t told you about him herself, she’s Bear’s favourite person.”   
“He’s a handsome fella” Sidney said leaning down to pet the dog, who stretched his head up for Sidney to pet him further.

“How do you take your tea Sidney?” Barbara asked.  
“Splash of milk, no sugar” he replied.   
“Do you pair need a top up?” she asked James and Alison  
“No thanks,” they replied, then James added “Do you need some help?”  
“You can bring the cakes and sandwiches through if you like” she said. James rose from the sofa and followed her to the kitchen. 

“How are you and Alison getting along in the same house?” Barbara asked when they were in the kitchen.   
“Fine, we are getting to know each other better, she has a really kind heart when she lets you in, but she can be fiery when she wants to. I heard about the argument with the girls, Alison was convinced Charlotte would have told you, she was very upset afterwards that it had got so out of hand”  
“She is very touchy when it comes to her father, she blames him for not being a better parent when their mother died, I think she blames her mother for leaving them and when Charlotte left to come to London, she suddenly realised what her sister had gone through and it wasn’t for her. She needs someone who will love her for who she is deep down and help her heal from her pain.”  
“I do see who she can be, she lets the real her out on occasion, but I worry that the girls won’t get past this last argument. I care about Charlotte too; I don’t want to have to be in the middle of them”  
“Give them both time, they will come around” Barbara said “just watch and see”

“Charlie, I think I might owe you an apology for the other day” Alison said, when James and Barbara had left.  
“Do you?” Charlotte said dismissively, focusing on Bear and not even looking up at her sister.   
“Don’t you even care what I have to say?” Alison said, getting frustrated  
“Not really. Sometimes things are said, that cannot be forgotten. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, you are my sister, but right now, what you said about me not deserving Sidney, that has been a step too far”   
Sidney bent down and kissed Charlotte’s head, Alison felt tears sting her eyes. She never thought there would be a time where her sister would not forgive her, not matter what she did or said. 

Barbara and James returned with tea, cakes and sandwiches which were placed the little table in the middle of the room.   
“It is lovely to have my girls over, we haven’t been together since Christmas dinner” Barbara said, noting a slight tension. “And of course, to have two handsome chaps too”  
“You’re too kind Barbara” James said, “You will have to come over for dinner one evening after work” he added  
“Or maybe the five of us could go out for a meal” Alison cut in  
“I think it would be difficult to coordinate all five of us to be available at the same time” Charlotte said, “Plus we can’t leave Bear for too long”  
“Charlotte, speaking of Bear” Barbara said “You are still ok to come and stay here to look after Bear at the end of the month, you remember I am going to Hannah’s wedding down to Portsmouth”  
“Yes, I have it written on the calendar” Charlotte said to her aunt, then turned to Bear “You and I are going to have such a fun weekend aren’t we gorgeous boy”  
“No letting him sleep in bed with you!” Barbara said.  
“You know full well that he will” Alison said with a laugh. “I can stay with you if you want company”   
“I think Bear and I will be fine, but I know where you are if I need you” Charlotte replied, helping herself to a sandwich. 

“So, Sidney, what do you do for work?” Barbara asked changing the subject  
“I am a finance director for my brother’s company, he owns a lot of holiday homes along the coast predominantly but were looking to expand. If you need a little break, you just let me know, I will get you a nice little place with a hot tub and a view to die for Aunt Barbara”  
“That sounds divine, Sidney. I shall let you know when I get another break from work. And James, you do maintenance in a number of buildings including Charlotte’s. That is a lot of responsibility and a very good trade”  
“Yes, that’s right, if you ever need any jobs around the place, you let me know. I learnt from my father”  
“It makes me happy to see my girls with sensible men with steady jobs. Do you remember that young lad who chased you around for months when you were at university Charlotte? Nothing like these lads”   
“I remember him” Alison said with a laugh “Told you he raced motorbikes, turns out he delivered pizza on a moped”

They all laughed at the story and the tension started to fade, as they told stories about things that had happened in their past. Charlotte got up at half past four, they had been there an hour and a half.  
“We have to leave now Aunty Barbara, we had a late-night last night after the dinner at Lady Denham’s and we both have work in the morning” she hugged her aunt and so did Sidney, they both gave Bear a little rub and Barbara had to pick him up to stop him trying to leave with Charlotte. Alison stood to say goodbye, but Charlotte moved to the hallway to get her coat and shouted ‘goodbye’ to them both from there. Sidney said his goodbye’s as he left the room and they headed back to the car.

“Are you ok?” he asked as they got to the car.  
“Yes, you?” she asked in return.  
“Yes, it went better than I expected. She’s trying to make amends” Sidney said.  
“She can try, but right now, I am not ready to forgive” Charlotte said, honestly.

When they arrived back at Charlotte’s flat, Sidney asked if she wanted him to stay.   
“If you don’t mind, can you go home today? The place is a mess, and I haven’t had time to give it a good clean” Sidney, though sad to leave her, understood and agreed to go home. He considered offering to send his cleaner round for a weekly clean, but he felt she might be insulted by that, so he held back for now. He also considered offering to help her, but he knew that he would just be in the way. She had her routine, and he knew she probably needed some space and time as well to process everything.   
“I have a late meeting tomorrow, hopefully I shall see you Tuesday?” Sidney said  
“Tuesday is my late night till eight and I have to do my food shop tomorrow after work, Wednesday?” she offered   
“Shall I pick you up Tuesday? I am not happy you catching the bus late at night”  
“I have been doing it for the last nine months, but if it makes you feel better, I will not argue, you can stay Tuesday if you like as it will be late”  
“Sounds like a plan, take care sweetheart, I love you” Sidney said, then realised when he saw Charlotte tense slightly, what he had said.

“You don’t have to say anything back and I don’t say it to frighten you” Sidney said pulling her close to hug her. She hugged him back and kissed his cheek before moving from him.  
“A heavy few days, lots to process and think about” Charlotte said as she stepped away from him, “See you Tuesday, let me know you get home safe” she said, stealing another kiss.

Sidney watched her go inside and sighed to himself. He hoped he hadn’t messed things up. He hadn’t meant to say it, it just slipped out, but it was true regardless and at least now she knew how special she was to him. He was not at all worried that she didn’t say it back, so long as she didn’t run away from him. She had been through enough and he knew that the last few days had been particularly arduous. He got back in his car and headed home, calling Crowe to see if he wanted to meet up for a drink on his hands free.


	25. Twenty Five

“What’s up with you?” Crowe asked,  
“What do you mean?” Sidney countered his question with another question.  
“That face” Crowe said doing circles with his finger at head height.  
“Have I got something on my face?” Sidney asked rubbing it with his sleeve.  
“No, it’s the look of something, I can’t place what, that is why I asked, it is something like a thinking face”  
“Ah, that explains why you are not so sure, you are more of an act first, think second sort of man”  
“Cut me to the core Parker” Crowe said, mocking a hurt expression. “How’s my new friend? That girl can move it on the dance floor, she was a demon last night, or early this morning actually”  
“Um, she is ok, ish, I think, I mean I hope”  
“What have you done?” Crowe asked.  
“Why does it have to be my fault?”  
“Again, that face you had when you walked in, see I knew I knew the face, even if I couldn’t put my finger on it”  
“I may have told her I love her”  
“Yes, my man, good on you, I mean, it’s glaringly obvious, maybe not to her, but well, the rest of us could see it a mile off. She’s pretty, she can dance, she’s intelligent, nice arse, funny, can’t ask for more”  
“I know, but she’s had a bit of crap from her sister the last couple of days, she needed a friend, not some crazy mad man. What if I scared her off?”  
“Off what?”  
“Off me!”  
“No worries, I’ll take her on a few dates, she’ll soon realise what a good thing she had with you, I will do that treat them mean, keep them keen approach”  
“You are supposed to be supporting me, making me feel better”  
“What more do you want, I mean, I am offering to keep an eye on her by taking her on a date and treating her worse than you do to show her she had a good thing, how is that not supporting you?”  
“Forget it, Let’s change the subject is it?”  
“Yes, is her arse as tight and sexy as it looked in that dress last night, I wanted to give it a good old squeeze, but I know I would have had a black eye from you”  
“No comment on her arse, a definite on the black eye”  
“No comment means it is better than it looks, I am so jealous”  
“I wish I didn’t have the car with me, I need a drink putting up with you sometimes!” Sidney said, and Crowe laughed, his laugh, infectious caused Sidney to laugh too, it was just what he needed to relieve some of the tension. 

Sidney stayed another hour talking to Crowe, before heading off for an early night, he was not looking forward to work tomorrow, Tom would no doubt dominate the meeting with talk of Lady Denham and whether or not she would invest in his venture. 

Charlotte let herself into the flat, it felt cold and empty, she touched the radiators, they were freezing, she ran the water, cold, she checked the boiler, dead.  
“Great, now I have to ring James” she said aloud, 

“Hi Charlotte, how lovely to hear from you” James said on answering the phone.  
“Hi James, sorry to bother you” Charlotte said,  
“No bother, is everything ok, you sound a little stressed”  
“The boiler has stopped working; do you think you could come tomorrow and take a look while I’m in work?”  
“Do you want me to call over now?”  
“Thank you, James, but I am really tired, and I have some things to sort out before work tomorrow, I will just jump into bed, I shall put an extra blanket, I will be fine for tonight”  
“Let me drop an electric heater in”  
“There’s no need”  
“No, I would feel better if you let me, I will be less than half an hour, we are almost home from your Aunt’s house”  
“Ok, thank you James, I shall see you shortly” and she hung up the phone, then text Sidney.

“The perfect end to a crappy afternoon, the bloody boiler has broken, and James insists on calling over with an electric heater in a bit.” 

Sidney didn’t hear his phone while he was with Crowe, but as he walked back to the car an hour later, he checked his phone and saw the text from Charlotte.  
“I can’t let you stay in the cold, pack a bag, come back to mine, no arguments. I hope James hasn’t been too bad, I will be there in fifteen minutes”

Charlotte’s phone pinged while she was talking to James, he had been there for almost half an hour talking to her, asking how she was after all that had gone on with Alison, telling her that he wasn’t happy for her to be left alone this evening in the cold flat and that she was welcome to stay with him and Ali, and trying to reassure her that as they were sister’s, they would be right as rain very soon.  
“Ah, it’s Sidney” she said to James, checking her phone, “He has just seen my message about the boiler, he is going to pick me up to stay with him tonight”  
“He seems like a decent bloke” James said, “Not really our type, though is he?”  
“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked  
“Well, you know, those who come from money, don’t understand how the real world is, working for you hard earned money, he’s the type who always gets what he fancies, then when he gets fed up, casts it aside, new car every six months, I don’t want you getting hurt, that’s all”  
“I really appreciate your concern James, it is very kind of you to look out for your girlfriend’s sister, but I think I am a fairly good judge of character, I mean, I am staying the night as my boiler is broken, not moving in with him when I barely know him”  
“Are you saying, you think Ali and I have jumped the gun here?”  
“Not at all, trust your heart and your gut, when something feels right, then it often is, now you must excuse me, I need to pack some things to take with me”  
“I am happy to wait with you until he arrives, make sure everything is ok”  
“Thank you, James, but you have brought the heater and plugged it in for me, I am already starting to feel some warmth, I have lived here alone for almost a year now and have been absolutely fine”  
“You know where I am if you need me though Charlotte” he said, stepping forward to hug her good bye. 

Charlotte had just finished packing her bag when she heard a car pull up outside, she checked out of the window and saw Sidney. She popped her coat on, turned off the electric heater, picked up her bag and left. 

“Are you ok?” Sidney asked, taking her bag from her to put it in the boot of her car”  
“I am going to ask my Aunt if I can move into her spare toom for a while” she said, turning to stare out of the window. Sidney thought she looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.  
“You will let me know if I can do anything to help, won’t you?”  
“Sure,” she said, with a sigh.  
“Crowe says you have a nice arse, his words not mine” Sidney said, not wanting to press her if she didn’t want to talk. She let out a little giggle.  
“In the words of Aunty Barbara, he’s a cad” she said, with a smile,  
“Well, it’s not the worst thing he’s been called” Sidney laughed.  
“Can I rant before we get home? I don’t want it to spoil the evening and I want an honest opinion as to whether I am being unreasonable or not, I also want something really bad for me to eat, can we stop at that Burger King near the house too please?”

Sidney noted that she said ‘home’ and near ‘the house’ not ‘your house’. “Your wish is my command, Burger it is, rant away in the meantime”  
“So, Alison has moved out, pretty much anyway, I have been thinking and now I know London a little better, I should move to somewhere smaller and cheaper, so that is my first thought, but also, James, this evening has really got my back up”  
“In what way?”  
“Well, like Ali, he thinks I am not good enough for you, don’t get me wrong, there have been a few times I have thought that myself, but when I am with you, those things don’t matter, I don’t notice them, do you know what I mean?”  
“Not really, in what way are you not good enough?”  
“I come from a farm, never been to private school, had to sell my car to move to London, will probably have to move from my decent flat to a pokey flat so that I have disposable income to date you, rather than spending every night at home planning my meals for the week in advance, you have a gorgeous home that feels like a home, not just somewhere you are staying. Don’t get me wrong, that lounge needs a bit of work, it feels cold, though the sofa looks comfortable, the study at the back is perfect and homely and the kitchen, I could bake in happily and who knows, someday, I might get one of my own, but do you know what has pushed me over the edge today to move?”

“Not” Sidney did not get to finish his sentence, Charlotte was on a true rant, not really caring if she was being listened to or not, just needing to get it all out. Sidney wondered how much anger she had in her and just how long she had held it in. it seemed now that she had shouted at her sister the other day, that she had opened the box and it was just falling out of her. He didn’t mind though, not if it helped her. 

“Bloody James, that’s what. He insisted on bringing that bloody radiator over, despite saying no, I didn’t want to see him, just ask him to fix the boiler while I am in work tomorrow, he has a key, so there’s pretty much no escaping him and Ali now, can’t even have a broken boiler without her knowing my business, because she’s playing happy families with the handy man. Half an hour he was there, couldn’t get rid of him, telling me how I was your latest play thing, and you would soon get bored of me, how me and Ali are sisters, and I should forgive her. Forgive her?!”

“That’s hardly” Sidney started but she cut over him again.

“After all that, he even offered me to stay at his flat with them both! Can you believe it? What on earth would give him the idea that I would want to stay there with them?”

“We are next in the queue Charlotte” Sidney said, putting his hand on her arm to focus her attention, “What do you want to eat sweetheart?”  
“Chicken Royale, Large, I need it” she said then fiddled round with her bag trying to find her purse to pay, but the anger that she was still feeling kept causing her to drop things, until the whole bag feels into the footwell and she just cried, angry tears.

Sidney pulled forward to the window and ordered their meals and paid, then he moved to the next window to pick it up. He pulled into a space in the far end of the car park, undid his seatbelt and leaned over to comfort her. She tried to push him away, but he held his ground and pulled her tighter, unclipping her seatbelt too, so that she had more freedom to fall into his arms. 

“I think it will do you good to move out, I am certain Big Bear will love to have you stay with him at Barbara’s and you can always have a room at mine” he said, stroking her hair, he inhaled the smell as he held her close. Then added “Do you want to eat here or take it home?”  
“Take me home” she whispered. Sidney held her a moment longer then moved her away from him, wiped her cheeks with a tissue from his centre console, and kissed the end of her nose. Then he put his seatbelt back on and reversed out of the parking space he was in to go home.


End file.
